MovieChat Forums > The Contract (2007) Discussion > Freeman was good, what was everyones fav...

Freeman was good, what was everyones favorite plot hole?

posted 17 years ago by eabg_22
65 replies | jump to latest

I thought Morgan Freeman did a good job with what he was given. That's the best compliment I can come up with. This movie reminded me of a high school student writing an essay on the bus ride to school that is due first period. It had poor dialouge and there is no way it could have been edited. There were sooooo many mistakes and plot holes that were easily picked up without even looking for them. What was everyones favorite mistake/plot hole.

I had to laugh when the trackers open fire with automatic weapons even though the man they are trying to save is inside. Then if that isn't enough to get you laughing, when he enters the cabin, he ditches the gun and goes in weilding a knife. One of many errors.

Also that was almost Naked Gun'ish when they crash the helicopter and before the dust even settles, they hop out injury free and pissed at each other.

[–] sjd224 17 years ago

How about this one? The bad guys arrive in a helicopter, all tooled up. The good guys wave and cheer at the helicopter that they think has come to rescue them. Then, instead of just landing, hopping out, killing the good guys and rescuing their boss, what do they do? They start shooting from a moving helicopter, guarenteing that the good guys will be warned, and giving them a head start into the woods! Brilliant!

[–] GigaHT 17 years ago

Good point sjd224, lol, also i really enjoyed other posts..
but i think i'd vote for the chopper crash scene , Very NakedGun-ish Indeed!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rcs0762 17 years ago

they couldn't land because of the rocks. the much bigger hole in that scene i thought was that the sniper aimed at the super gay "boyfriend", then at morgan freeman, and then when the helicopter jolts he shoots the boyfriend, as if a helicopter jolting like that would move a rifle steadily to the left in the exact spot where he had been aiming.

[–] gtgh-11 17 years ago

I still can't believe more people aren't talking about how they decided to scale down the side of a cliff in the rain and Morgan Freeman just follows them? The whole time i was going "really?!?! reallly?!??!?!" Then the 4 hitman come up on the cliff the next morning and the one guy says a line like "They must have parachuted down" and everyone takes that as a reasonable answer!?!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] FillCorey 17 years ago

OK: remember this: the bad guys ORIGINALLY plan to "box" the feds' car out on the road, but the car goes into the drink UNEXPECTEDLY. They follow down river and gradually come to the conclusion that they'll have to hike into the woods to rescue Freeman. So why, later, are they all tricked out in ponchos and NIGHT VISION GOGGLES?

Hears another cliche: the wreck that put Freeman in the hospital? He's driving along on a town road, doing maybe 25 to 30, when he's cut off by an approaching vehicle making a left across his path. The next thing you know, cars are vaulting into the air off nearby parked cars, rolling over, car parts thrown like shrapnel, and bursting into flame. If the story purpose is only to render him unconscious & put him in the hospital, why all the histrionics and special effects?

I really like Cusack, and Freeman is one of anybody's all-time favorites. Even several of the supporting character actors are recognizable pros. But this movie SUCKS. Besides Breaker Morant and Driving Miss Daisy, and arguably Double Jeopardy, has director Beresford ever done anything worthwhile? Is this HIS fault?

Laugh-a while-a you can, monkey boy

[–] pbn 16 years ago

My favourite fact about this movie is that it was directed by the same person as Driving Miss Daisy. Mindblowing, really.

[–] deutschsprecher 17 years ago

this movie reminds me of a terrible short story I wrote in junior high. by the time I got to the night before it was due I just wanted to finish the damn thing.

[–] alfabetizado 17 years ago

Mine was at the final scene, traitor hitman is there to kill Freeman so he can get his half a million pay. But all of a sudden, he decides that's a better idea to put his aim at the guy he was first hired to kill, ironically by the Freeman, whom he was trying to erase just 2 seconds ago.

I guess he thought that he could still get payed by Carden, right there, at the woods, and then proceed to hunt him down.

Also, another one with traitor hitman. He's there to kill Freeman, and he decides to do so in a chopper, with three of the other assassins, those of which had shown royalty to Carden. So what was ha planning? Killing Freeman, everyone else in the chopper and himself when that thing crash landed?

[–] jansjogren 17 years ago

Yeah, the more I think about this movie the worse it gets. Unbelievably illogical. The "just sit down" option which was never exercised by the supposedly smart superspy/hitman Freeman was the worst part, imo.

The military trained superassassins acting like third-graders regarding both dialogue and combat tactics was also pretty hilarious. Sheesh.

[–] powaqua 17 years ago

how about immediately after crashing, finding themselves not too far from where they first took off, just on the other side of the moraine.

[–] therealman 17 years ago

1) Sitting down : Cusack knows he is a bad guy; that he is a killer. He would have been justified in killing him if he did not move. Or at least Carden would have to think that was a possibility.

2) Shooting from the helicopter. Sometimes you miss. By shooting from the helicopter he had an excuse for hitting Freeman by mistake. Once dead, there would be no reason to protect Freeman.

3) No phone service but the lap top works. The kid is a punk kid. Cusack bought him cheap services. The hit men are highly payed and can afford something better.

4) Night vision and ponchos. They are professionals; they come prepared.

[–] robh_d 17 years ago

1) Justified is one thing, but what he'd actually do is entirely another. Cusack's character wouldn't have done it, and that should have been totally obvious to Freeman's character.
2) The helicopter could never have explained such a thing, unless it was somehow moving left and right. Even so, a smart "militarily trained" guy would first kill the person with the gun.
3) 911 calls are not limited by your service provider. If you can't get a call through to 911, you can't get a call through for anything. The only possible exception is that there are two kinds of service (CDMA and GSM), but if you think that far into it you might as well mention that nobody provides hi-speed internet services outside urban areas. In the backcountry of Washington, you're lucky to get a signal at all.
4) If they're such prepared professionals, why are they traipsing around in the woods wearing suits and colored clothing, while listening to ipods?
It's good to be devil's advocate, but come on now...

[–] rt44118 17 years ago

Nobody was bothered that when the FBI arrives, they have a Table, two office chairs, a tent and, last but not least, a coffee mug FULL OF PENS?

[–] scofthe7seas 17 years ago

That coffee mug full of pens thing is freaking hilarious. I don't know why that didn't seem out of place when I saw it.
I loved how the bad guys seemed like some kind of alternate version of the A-team. I never learned their names, to me they were just,

Head-Phones
Token
Chess
and Whiney

Anyone else wonder why the best idea when getting your helicopter all shot up, when you're like 2 feet from the ground, and very well armed, is to fly away where you will probably crash and die?

[–] Fuktronix 16 years ago

You don't need to worry about crashing in a helicopter. You won't die, or even get hurt, you'll just say "son-of-a bitch" and walk away.

Also, why did Freeman need all his cronies (not to mention a brand-new guy too) when he was simply going to snipe the target from some bushes.

Moreover, why didn't Freeman continue to fulfill the contract at the funeral? Did the guy standing up and slowly walking away really make the shot *that* much more difficult?

Finally, and this happens in every movie involving chess: "genius" chess players who "never lose" do not fail to see a one-move checkmate. That's just not how chess works.

[–] Fuktronix 16 years ago

I have to mention too that traitor sniper appears to accidently shoot the effeminate boyfriend not once, but twice! He obviously shoots him once, but then while apparently trying to continue shooting Freeman he hits a rock once and then his third shot makes the sound of hitting the shot guy on the ground again! Then he missed Freeman one more time.

I like how he says "Goodbye old man.." right before he botches the shot too. How was he going to explain that after "accidentally" shooting Freeman?

Pilot: Dude, you shot Morgan Freeman!
Traitor Sniper: I know, I messed up! I didn't mean too!
Pilot: Why did you say "Goodbye old man?"
Traitor Sniper: ?

[–] hernaniturralde 16 years ago

You know how actors, in the DVD extras always say, "this material was fascinating to me, I'd never read anything like it"?
In this case it might be true, they had probably never read anything like this caca before, but why then go off and act in it?

I don´t know about plot holes but within the first 20 minutes (I'm not kidding) Morgan Freeman's character was already involved in two car accidents...
Stay away from cars, man.

Did they explain why it was so important for that woman that they shot Freeman?
I guess I fell asleep during that part.

The two hikers meet with the father/son/bad dude (WTF! with the woman showing her ass to the camera...?) and 2 seconds after getting involved in that situation (which I can only assume must be scary) they start rambling about how they should have gone to SF to bone a lot...

And last but not least: not only was there no explanation as to why four very sofisticated hitmen were needed for a job my niece could have done, but they all get their asses kicked by a simple ex-cop turned coach of everything?
Barforamaville...

Remember the beginning of the movie? Morgar Freeman getting a piece of paper behind a picture of a (dead?) black soldier at some monument?
He gets his phone and says: "It's on". (Pretentious) LOTFWL
To whom did he say that?

OMG In the extras of the DVD the producer says: "Hitchcock used to put ordinary people in extreme situations, and in this film bla bla bla", please, do not quote or mention Hitchcock in reference to this film man...

And my last remark. The rain looked so fake in this movie, it wasn't even funny.

Cheers

[–] glennwatts2002 16 years ago

I watched this the other night on tv and thought it was unbelievably bad.
I spent the whole time waiting for the twist or the tension but there was absolutely none!

How bad were those hitmen???!
How compliant was Morgan Freeman's character???!
How bad was the tantrum thrown by the son at John Cusack???! "You said it would be OK and it wasn't" - Give me a break, he's about 15 years old for Chrissake, grow up!
How welcome was the totally unnecessary bathing lady?

My favourite plot holes:
1 - Did anyone else think it was strange that she was bathing in the nude while her husband stands around watching - fully clothed!
2 - Why didn't Morgan Freeman let them get a bit of a way down the cliff face and simply climb back up - how are they going to shoot him when they are clinging on for dear life?
3 - If Morgan Freeman is so dangerous and important, (with known professional, trained associates) why transport him by car with only a couple of guys?
4 - How stupid is the cop transporting Morgan Freeman that he didn't suspect an ambush when coming across a 'broken down' van in their path?
5 - Police helicopter pilot didn't think it strange enough seeing a black man in a suit in the middle of nowhere that he would call in his location?
6 - Keep on the move to get away from professional killers and then reach a hut on a lake with no means of helping you contact the outside world and stay there until the killers reach you!!!
7 - Three heavily armed, trained killers cannot storm a wooden hut with a kid a girl and some guy with one gun between them? It was like an old James Bond film where he is attacked by a massive gang of thugs who each politely wait their turn to get punched!

That's just off the top of my head.

I have been reading all of the posts in this thread and have been laughing my head off - absolutely brilliant.
Perhaps we all missed the point and this film is in fact a classic work of comedy genius!

[–] GaelinW 16 years ago

4 - How stupid is the cop transporting Morgan Freeman that he didn't suspect an ambush when coming across a 'broken down' van in their path?

That was the biggest one for me. Trained US Marshal, apparently with a couple of decades experience. Used to securing prisoners. He sees a broken down vehicle in front, and as soon as they stop another pulls up, boxing them in. Rather than suspect an ambush, he sends one of his guys out to "help".

WTF! If he hadn't gotten killed, he definitely should have retired.

As for the woman getting over her boyfriend. She said soon after that it had been over for a while and that they had even broken up. I don't recall why she was out there camping with him.

"Professionals built the Titanic. Amateurs built the Ark."
Helen Hannah

[–] capnmorgan5150 15 years ago

Highly trained ex-military black ops soldiers who can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn. :P

[–] eebeeb 15 years ago

I was waiting for Ray to hand his gun to the little squirrel.