Chris Pine slips into his best spy-wear for Tarik Saleh’s “The Contractor,” a character study (cloaked as a thriller) of a U.S. Army Ranger who tries his hand in the murky world of private security. Written by J.P. Davis, “The Contractor” paints a deeply cynical picture of life after service for American military heroes, having destroyed their bodies on the battlefield and left to fend for themselves and their families in an increasingly brutal world.
Davis’ orderly script proceeds almost like clockwork through its acts, setting up our main character, James (Pine) and his situation at home, struggling to support his family after he’s honorably discharged from the Army for using banned substances to treat his lingering injuries. He’s promised his wife (Gillian Jacobs) he’ll stay out of private security contracting gigs, but the temptation of big money promised by an old war buddy, Mike (Ben Foster), and Rusty (Kiefer Sutherland), the proprietor of a security company known as “The Ranch,” proves too tempting to pass up. It’s a seductive sell, with cash up front and Rusty’s folksy charm; he tends tomato plants while talking of safe, honorable money, nothing like "Erik Prince" (of Blackwater notoriety).
When James lands in Berlin, “The Contractor” transforms from an American family drama into a Euro spy thriller. He's tasked with trailing a scientist working on viral pathologies, and told he has ties to terrorist organizations with designs on releasing a bioweapon, so James doesn’t blink when he, Mike and their crew break into the lab to steal research. It’s a well-oiled mission, executed in low voices and quiet movements, but as the mission changes, and the scientist begs for his life and family, James’ eyes start darting around behind his balaclava, doubt creeping in. Soon enough, he has to go rogue, on the run in Germany, “Jason Bourne”-style, though it’s not his government chasing him, but a shadowy private American company.
