The Professional was a winner for me because Reno clearly (even inappropriately?) fell in love with Natalie Portman's character. His final gift to her was a sure sign that he had passed through his Disinterested Assassin phase and felt some brief joy in life. Snipes' character Dial does some good things for people in The Contractor, but ends up playing the role as a very workaday contract killer. When he ends up on the wrong side of the CIA deal (no surprise there...), he has to rely on a young girl for help. She is conveniently orphaned and very interested in hanging her "father figure" sign on him in no time at all. By the end of the movie, we've seen the obvious plot suspects played out and 98 minutes have elapsed. It would be nice to say that - as I expected - Snipes pulls out some incredible action during The Contractor. Unlike almost every recent Snipes vehicle I can remember, this is a weak action movie with jittery camera work that set my teeth on edge. Cutting scenes every half second and shaking the camera may create tension in the hands of a master, but it is overused in The Contractor. Lena Headey of 300 is plugged heavily, but doesn't do much other than show up in a few scenes and pout heavily.
The Contractor isn't a bad look-see as a rental, especially if you love watching Snipes on screen. He pulls out a good performance as a tired hitman caught up in some bad circumstances, but the whole story just doesn't wash. Everyone in the movie phones in their performances and the camera work is downright nauseating. This is a curiosity and not at all what I expected.
