January is typically the lean season when it comes to movie releases. The studios have fired off their Oscar bait over the holidays and are saving their next round of high-profile tent pole releases for the lucrative spring and summer seasons. That said, Contraband is better than one would expect around this time of the year, though it is only an intermittently entertaining B-movie that seems content to coast for 110 minutes. What it lacks in oomph it compensates — but doesn’t quite redeem itself — with a modest amount of grittiness and a decent cast of character actors.

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required