The careers of John Cena and Alison Brie must be in serious trouble for them to have agreed to put their reputations on the line in Freelancea meaningless, insignificant action film with more than dubious morals.
Cena plays Mason Pettis, a former special forces agent who, following a serious injury, has to settle for a job in the law field; the last straw for this man of action, who has always promised himself not to wallow in the comfortable, bourgeois suburban life of a good father.
To get out of his slump and to escape the conflicts that plague his marriage, he accepts a mandate as bodyguard for journalist Claire Wellington (Alison Brie). Unemployed following an ethical error about which the viewer knows little or nothing, the latter hopes to get back on track thanks to a press trip to Paldonia. In this fictional Latin American nation, torn apart by a civil war, the journalist has been promised an interview with President Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba), a dictator who is far from unanimous in his country.
However, as the young woman prepares to obtain a scoop, a military coup breaks out, leading to a frantic chase through the jungle. Surrounded on all sides, this ill-adjusted trio will have to go out of their way to survive, including finding common ground.
Director Pierre Morel fails to choose a direction in this story, certainly rich in twists and turns, but overloaded and devoid of any trace of depth. Each time the screenplay seems to rush into a promising premise – to delve into the characters’ past or to hold a critical discourse on a political situation, for example – the viewer’s gaze is diverted without any effort to complete what has been started, or even to justify the dramatic turnaround.
The action scenes, poorly executed, are unspeakably lazy, in addition to being carried out without any consideration for realism or for the progression of the story. For example, this chase scene in which John Cena and Alison Brie try to escape the bombardment of a helicopter, by running through the tall grass of the jungle. Even if the heroes advance at a snail’s pace, the guerrillas, better armed and faster from the air, never manage to catch up with them. In the same vein, Mason Pettis, overwhelmed by an alienating injury, can become as agile as a monkey from one moment to the next, if the story requires it.
Getting to the conclusion is torture. When we get there, it all culminates in a predictable finale, which praises “good dictators”, and celebrates both the Second Amendment and the American dream. We pass !