Until John Cena embodied the role of Peacemaker, I had no use for him. Beefy “action” heroes are hardly running out of style. The Fast & Furious franchise has them on back order. So you can benchpress a refrigerator and deliver a punchline? Just because I can do neither doesn’t mean those skills are all that coveted. But “Peacemaker” made me think twice of the oft too serious Cena; here’s a guy who is clearly willing to have sense of humor regarding everything he’s about. That goes a very long way. And it makes movies like Freelance almost palatable, when three years ago it definitely not have been.
Mason Pettits (which means “little house,” btw – and the movie spelled that out for me) hates his life. Just hates it. He was once a special forces army guy, but got shot down while trying to take out Paldonian dictator Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba). That completely unforeseeable failed coup tragedy left him broken both physically and mentally, so naturally he got married and settled down.
Mason is now a lawyer. (No shit?!) Huh. I guess he must have aced the “Power Lifting” section of the state bar exam. (I know that section was difficult for Ruth Bader Ginsburg.) He hates his practice and his life. He’s sure not fond of his wife, and while he likes his daughter, he seems to find parenting a big puzzle.
Now, the plot happens. Claire Wellington (Alison Brie) was on her way to becoming Anderson Cooper when she got justifiably canceled for journalistic stupidity. Now, her career could rise again as she has an exclusive interview set up with the reclusive Venegas. But she needs protection, so Mason’s old pal Christian Slater, with his newly-formed Mercenaries R Us company, invites Mason to re-visit Paldonia once again as Claire’s bodyguard.
This goes well for about … hmmm, it never goes well. From the very time Mason and Claire miss their initial connection to the part where rebels eliminate Venegas’ honor guard and beyond, it’s all just something nobody drew up on a chalkboard. The key part seems to be getting Mason and Claire unprotected and running for safety in a South American jungle so that everybody can re-evaluate their own lives.
For a while, this film seemed a repeat of The Lost City, with Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock being downgraded to John Cena and Alison Brie. But then Venegas himself -lacking any of his guys for protection- decides to tag along. At this point, Mason’s story becomes the story of misunderstood dictator Juan Venegas. So maybe there was more to this movie than I gave it credit for. And maybe not. Do we care what happens to Mason, Claire, and El Jefe? Not sure.
Most of the film is watchable. There are a few smiles. Like Lost City, there is random skin and a jungle which is much tamer than it ought to be. None of it is great, but I might have called this picture a minor win all the same were it not for the bizarre exploration of Paldonia’s underrated strongman.
This is the wrong time in history -especially American history- to be praising autocrats or calling them misunderstood. And while I understand Freelance is a comedy and on some levels a parody, praising dictators is exactly what it is doing. Here we have an example of your prototypical South American lowlife strongman – egocentric, paranoid, oblivious, self-righteous, and surrounded at 
all times by zealots and sycophants. But in reality, he’s a shrewd gamesman, three steps ahead of the field as well as being a kind, gentle soul who has the best of his country at heart and would gladly cede power if shown a better way. I’m sure this character was more fully written for both comic and intellectual satisfaction, but, hmmm, how shall I put this?
Bullshit.
In my own country -the country where this film was produced- we currently have a Grade A example of an autocrat wannabe. He’s an angry orange monster and make no mistake, if he manages to get back into the White House in 2025, we may never see another fair presidential election in my lifetime. Calling him shrewd or misunderstood is kindness to a fault. He’s a humorless uneducated neanderthal and allies have fallen in line only because they fear his club. The idea that he’s secretly a puppet master controlling all is hilarious. (Yeah, then explain away the 91 felony indictment charges) Imagining he will cede power voluntarily is to imagine someone who doesn’t exist, who cannot exist. Autocrats don’t come to be autocrats because they only wanted *some* power. Nobody is a dictator by default. That’s insane.
Hence, whatever good will this picture might have promoted was flushed down the presidential commode ten, fifteen times well before the epilogue.
There was once and ex-GI named Mason
Whose fate he sought blindly to hasten
So he went to S.A.
Shot his troubles away
And now his dark is back in the gray, son
Rated R, 108 Minutes
Director: Pierre Morel
Writer: Jacob Lentz
Genre: More fugitive buddy pic fun!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: John Cena believers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Believers in democracy
