Freelance
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPierre Morel
Written byJacob Lentz
Produced by
  • Jacob Lentz
  • Chris Milburn
  • Renee Tab
  • Christopher Tuffin
  • Steve Richards
Starring
CinematographyThierry Arbogast
Edited byChris Tonick
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byRelativity Media
Release date
  • October 27, 2023 (2023-10-27)
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million
Box office$9.1 million[2][3]

Freelance is a 2023 American action comedy film directed by Pierre Morel and written by Jacob Lentz in his feature writing debut. It stars John Cena, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba, and Christian Slater.

Plot

Mason Pettits is a former U.S. Army Special Forces, who was injured and medically discharged after a failed mission to assassinate Paldonian dictator Juan Venegas. In present day Pettits is working as a lawyer, a job he despises. One day, Mason is approached by a former Army Special Forces team member, Sebastian Earle, who offers him a highly paid personal security job where he has to protect disgraced journalist Claire Wellington as she goes to Paldonia to interview Venegas. The mission upsets his wife Jenny, who doesn't want their daughter Casey to live without a father.

After arriving in Paldonia and meeting Venegas, they are ambushed by a group that tries to kill Venegas, destroying their cars in the process. Mason fights off the assailants and they escape into the jungle. Venegas deduces that the coup is led by his nephew Jorge, who hired Colonel Jan Koehorst to kill him. Mason tries to leave Venegas behind while bringing Claire with him, but the two are ambushed by more militants. Mason, with a little help from Venegas, fights them off, and the group arrives at a village where Venegas is highly respected.

Claire successfully films her interview with Venegas. While Mason bonds further with Claire, he is unable to start a relationship with her, remembering his family back home. The next day, Venegas hints at a real purpose for Mason's job - Mason calls Sebastian, who informs him that he was actually hired to kill Venegas. Suddenly, Jan and his militants arrive at the village and chase the group; Mason and Venegas manage to escape while Claire is captured.

While on the way to Paldonia's capital, Venegas reveals that he wasn't responsible for killing Mason's friends in the military. Later, the two stage a trade with Claire, while Venegas reveals that he paid for the revolution as propaganda. The next day, during said trade, Venegas brings the revolutionists to distract Jan as he, Mason, and Claire run to the palace. There, Venegas convinces Jorge to help him lead the country better, but the latter is killed when General Martínez conspiring with him tries to shoot Venegas.

Jan and his army arrive at the palace, and a shootout ensues between them and Venegas' bodyguards, during which Mason fights Jan alone. Jan reveals that he was responsible for killing Mason's crew. Claire, who films the battle, helps Mason defeat Jan. Afterwards, Sebastian and his team arrive and fight Jan's militants.

Some time later, Claire has regained fame for her footage in Paldonia, Venegas resigns from being dictator, and Mason reunites with his family before being gifted $5 million by Venegas. Now with a newfound purpose on his life, Mason decides to spend more time with his family.

Cast

Production

Freelance is the feature writing debut of television screenwriter Jacob Lentz. The film was announced on October 6, 2021, with Pierre Morel directing and John Cena attached to star. The film was reported to have a budget of at least $40 million.[4][5] In January 2022, Alison Brie,[6] Juan Pablo Raba,[7] Alice Eve, Marton Csokas,[8] and Christian Slater joined the cast.[9] Filming began in Colombia on January 17, 2022, with cinematographer Thierry Arbogast.[10]

Release

Freelance was released in theaters by Relativity Media on October 27, 2023.[11] It was released on premium video on demand on November 28, 2023 with a DVD and Blu-ray release date of March 12, 2024.[12]

Reception

Box office

The film made $880,000 from 2,057 theaters in its first day, and went on to debut to $2.1 million, finishing in seventh.[13]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 6% of 34 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Much like a real-life Freelance gig, this sodden action comedy offers no benefits."[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 22 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[15] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled at PostTrak gave it an 58% overall positive score, with 27% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Freelance (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Freelance — Financial Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Freelance". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  4. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (October 22, 2021). "John Cena In Negotiations To Star In Action-Comedy Movie Freelance From Taken Director Pierre Morel — AFM". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  5. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (November 10, 2021). "AFM: John Cena Action Comedy Freelance Sells Wide". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  6. ↑ Kit, Borys (January 14, 2022). "Alison Brie Joins John Cena in Action Comedy Freelance (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  7. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (January 18, 2022). "Juan Pablo Raba Joins John Cena & Alison Brie In Pierre Morel Action-Comedy Freelance; Filming Begins In Colombia". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (January 20, 2022). "Freelance: Alice Eve & Marton Csokas Join John Cena Action-Comedy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  9. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (January 27, 2022). "Christian Slater Joins John Cena, Alison Brie & Juan Pablo Raba In Action-Comedy Freelance". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  10. ↑ Sentient Entertainment is proud to announce that we have commenced principal photography on FREELANCE today. Sentient Entertainment. January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022 – via Instagram.
  11. ↑ Sim, Jonathan (September 11, 2023). "Freelance Release Date Delayed for John Cena-led Comedy Movie". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  12. ↑ Woo, Kelly (November 28, 2023). "9 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, Prime Video and more (Nov. 28-Dec. 4)". Tom's Guide. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  13. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 28, 2023). "'Five Nights At Freddy's' $78M Busting All Sorts Of Opening Records: Best For Halloween, Peacock Day & Date, Etc. – Box Office Update Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Freelance". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Freelance". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
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