 |
| Freelance (2023) |
Mason Pettits grew up with no purpose in life. He did things most people do and thought he wanted things that most people want. Because of this, Mason was always hasty in his decisions. With only a year left in law school, Mason decided to enlist in the military and become a Special Forces operative. There, Mason finally found his purpose, something that made him happy. Mason found himself and a love life. He got married to a woman named Jenny, and they had a child named Casey. But on a mission to eliminate a man called Venegas, Mason lost not only his purpose in life but also his comrades.
Mason retired from the Army and became a lawyer despite not having finished law school. One day, Mason was on his way to Casey's school to drop her off, and the little girl told him about a kid who kept on trying to kiss her. Mason told his daughter to punch the kid in the throat if he tried to kiss her again and went to work after dropping Casey off. At his office, Mason was visited by an old friend named Sebastian Earl. Sebastian owns a company called Contracted Defense Initiatives, or CDI for short. Sebastian offered Mason a job which was to provide security for a journalist named Claire Wellington, who was going to an exclusive interview with the President of Palonia, Venegas.
Mason remembered Venegas as their target before his comrades died and wanted to decline, but Sebastian offered a large sum of money, and Mason finally agreed. When Mason got back home that day, he learned that Jenny got called by the principal at Casey's school because their daughter actually punched the boy who tried to kiss her in the throat. Because of this, Mason and Jenny got into an argument, which caused even more damage to their already rocky marriage. When Jenny learned of the job Sebastian offered Mason, she was worried but eventually decided to let Mason go, knowing that his leaving might just be what he needed to fix himself and be happy again.
Mason met up with journalist Claire Wellington, and after introducing himself, the two of them went straight to the airport. In the car, Claire briefed Mason about his job and, seeing that Mason has a lot of opinions about Venegas, reminded him to keep those opinions to himself and focus on his job of keeping her safe. On the plane to Palonia, Mason and Claire continued talking, and Mason clearly had a hard time liking Claire because of her smart mouth. Venegas welcomed Claire with a kiss on the hand as soon as they landed, while Mason was thoroughly checked by Venegas' security.
They entered Venegas' car, and Mason was put off when he learned that Venegas had done his research on him and knew that he was a former Armed Forces operative. On their way to Venegas' ranch, Venegas and Claire kept on talking with each other and even shared a drink together, completely ignoring an annoyed Mason. When they got to the middle of a bridge, the security car in front of them exploded, and they were ambushed by rebels who were there to assassinate Venegas. Mason took the wheel and rammed the rebel cars with it. He told Claire and Venegas to stay in the car while he fought off the enemies.
When he went back to the car, he saw that Claire and Venegas had gotten out of the car. He slowly walked away, limping because his back was hurting him. Mason approached the destroyed security car and grabbed a huge gun. Venegas asked Mason to help him protect his people, but Mason refused, stating that it was Venegas' own people who tried to kill him before walking away, followed by Claire. They went into the jungle and stopped for a while for Claire to take a rest when Venegas appeared, having followed them. Mason called Sebastian for some help, and Sebastian assured him that he had their location and was going to send a backup.
After the call, Venegas asked to use the phone, which Mason refused. Venegas then threatened to have Mason arrested for being a foreign spy, but Mason pulled out a gun and threatened Venegas with it. Claire stood in front of Venegas, and Mason stared at Venegas for a while before throwing the phone at Venegas. Venegas called his nephew George while Mason and Claire conversed with each other, waiting for Venegas. Venegas told George that everything was fine and that he was going to see him soon. After the call, Venegas handed the phone back to Mason and informed them that George was behind the attack.
Claire was shocked to learn that Venegas's own nephew was working with the rebels, but Venegas clarified that George was just being used by the rebels because he was an idiot. Mason was amazed by how quickly Venegas realized who the traitor was with just one phone call, but he still refused to help Venegas. Mason walked away, with Claire following him, leaving Venegas all by himself. Claire tried to convince Mason to help Venegas while she reported everything that happened, but Mason was adamant about not helping Venegas. Claire was curious as to why Mason seemed so angry at Venegas.
As the two of them reached the clearing where Sebastian's men would pick them up, Mason saw the helicopter flying away after dropping off two gunmen. He realized that they weren't there to help them. The gunmen chased them down while the helicopter kept firing at them as they ran. They stopped by a fallen tree in the clearing, and Mason set up a sniper, waiting for the helicopter to face them. Claire, on the other hand, stood back with a phone in hand, recording what was happening. Mason successfully sniped the pilot down, and they ran into the jungle just as the helicopter crashed.
Claire kept on running until she realized that she had lost Mason. She called out for Mason, looking for him, but instead, she was met by the two gunmen. She hid behind a tree and grabbed a tree branch, silently waiting. As one of the rebels approached the tree she was hiding behind, suddenly Mason appeared and fought with the rebel. Claire watched as Mason put the rebel in a chokehold, choking the rebel to death. Claire stepped out of her hiding spot while Mason stood facing her, not seeing the rebel behind him. Claire alerted Mason, and when he looked back, he was hit in the face with a gun.
The two stood there with their hands raised when Venegas appeared, shooting the rebel. Meanwhile, George and his men were checking the crashed helicopter when a car pulled up. It was Colonel Jan, who had come to give George a warning for his failure to kill Venegas. Colonel Jan killed one of George's men, and George promised to fix his mistake. Back with Mason's group, the trio had stopped by the river to rest for a while. Claire approached Mason to strike up a conversation and learned about Mason's last mission.
Mason told Claire about the crash in that same jungle and how he lost his comrades. He also opened up about how he went back to pursuing law after retiring from the Army. He thought that by becoming a lawyer, he would feel as if everything was normal, but instead, it just made him hate himself. As the two of them continued talking, they began to find common ground and became closer to each other. After their short rest, Venegas led Mason and Claire to a village and introduced them to the village chief and Pepino, the village chief's son-in-law.
The trio decided to stay in the village until the next day, and they went to clean themselves. After bathing, Venegas and Claire decided to have an exclusive interview. During the interview, they talked about the attempted assassination of Venegas, and the latter explained why he thinks the corporations are the ones behind the attempt on his life. Palonia's land and mineral resources had been exploited by outsiders, and corporations had been making billions out of those resources. Recently, lanthanides were discovered in Palonia.
Lanthanides are rare earth metals that are the core component of every new technology, and corporations wanted to exploit that new resource, but Venegas refused, and that was the reason why they wanted him dead. Mason, who had been recording the interview, slowly came to realize that Venegas wasn't a bad guy after all. The next day, Mason woke Claire up and told her to get ready as they were leaving, but Claire hesitated as she wanted to get the full story of the revolt happening in Palonia. When Venegas entered the room, he told Mason to stay and see the truth before implying that he knew why Mason was the one sent to be Claire's security.
Confused, Mason called Sebastian and discovered that Sebastian had been ordered to send a man to kill Venegas. Sebastian chose Mason, thinking that Mason would want to kill Venegas as he had lost his comrades because of him. Mason ended the call without saying anything else and called his home phone to talk to Jenny. He expressed his gratitude and love to Jenny, who teared up as she asked him to come home in one piece. After the phone call, Mason pulled out his gun and approached Venegas, but instead of shooting Venegas, who was dancing with Claire, he walked past them, grabbing his stuff as he told Claire that they were leaving.
When they saw Colonel Jan and his men arriving, the trio ran to escape the place, but Venegas saw the rebels threatening the village and went out of hiding. Meanwhile, Claire persuaded Mason to help Venegas, as the colonel would surely kill the villagers after killing Venegas. With a horse, Mason grabbed Venegas and they rode away from the rebels. Mason and Venegas managed to escape, but Claire was captured. Knowing that they couldn't beat Colonel Jan and his men, Mason and Venegas decided to make a plan first on how to save Claire.
The duo stayed in a church for the night, and the next day they met up with Venegas's trusted friend, a man named Bobby, and asked him for his help. After talking to Bobby, Mason went to meet with Colonel Jan while Venegas stayed hidden. Mason and Colonel Jan stood in the middle of the road in a seemingly quiet town, guns pointed at each other. One of Colonel Jan's rebels pushed Claire down on her knees and pointed a gun at her head. Colonel Jan threatened to have her killed if Mason didn't give him Venegas. Mason gave in and yelled for Venegas to come out.
Then Venegas came out with a smug smile on his face, followed by a huge number of civilians who cornered Colonel Jan's team. With Colonel Jan and his men cornered and helpless, the trio easily managed to leave the area using a secret passage. The trio sneaked into Venegas office in the palace where Jorge was. While Claire was recording, Venegas talked to Jorge, telling his nephew that the rebels were just going to dispose of him once they'd gotten what they wanted. Venegas offered to save Jorge from the rebels, and the two hugged each other when General Martinez entered the room.
Venegas tried to have a peaceful talk with him, but the general pulled out a gun and shot Venegas. Mason tackled Claire to keep her safe while Venegas quickly shot General Martinez. Once the general was dead, Mason helped Venegas up, who pulled out the bullet from his suit, telling Mason that he was wearing a bulletproof vest inside. Their relief was short-lived when they realized that Jorge had been shot. Venegas cradled Jorge and cried as his nephew died in his arms. Suddenly, Palonian soldiers barged into the room, pointing their guns at Venegas.
Venegas talked to the soldiers, convincing them that he was not the enemy and that he too wanted to help his people. As he was finishing his speech, Colonel Jan's rebels slowly entered the room, standing just behind the Palonian soldiers. With his eyes, Venegas gestured towards the rebels, and the Palonian soldiers turned around, exchanging fire with the rebels. Mason, Claire, and Venegas hid behind a desk, with Claire still recording everything. A war broke out inside the palace, and Mason made sure to protect Claire and even Venegas. While the Palonian soldiers and the rest of the rebels were fighting, Colonel Jan and one of his men pursued the trio.
Mason got Venegas and Claire to go first while he stayed behind to fight off Colonel Jan. Venegas and Claire reunited with the soldiers, and while Venegas stayed to help the soldiers, Claire went back to Mason. Mason, on the other hand, was pinned down on the ground by Colonel Jan. That's when Mason found out that it was actually Colonel Jan who killed his comrades, not Venegas. Colonel Jan struggled as he pushed the knife down to kill Mason, but Claire arrived and knocked Colonel Jan out. The duo then went to Venegas and the Palonian soldiers, who were slowly getting outnumbered by the rebels.
Mason slid to the floor, grabbed a gun, and fired at the rebels. Meanwhile, Claire and Venegas stared at him in awe, with Claire still recording. Outside the palace, Sebastian and his men drove through the gate and entered the palace. They helped Mason and the Palonian soldiers, successfully defeating the rebels who retreated. The war was over, and Claire had shown the world the whole truth about Venegas and Palonia. The palace was fixed again, and Venegas was now given the chance to tell the world his story. Before the interview, Venegas thanked Claire and Mason for all their help, especially Claire, who made it possible for the world to see the truth.
The interview had begun, and it was reported worldwide. After his job in Palonia, Mason came back home and was happily welcomed by his wife and daughter. Thanks to that one phone call, their once rocky marriage was fixed and turned into a loving one. One day, Mason received a text from Venegas telling him that he had sent Mason a "petite surprise." That petite surprise turned out to be a huge sum of money sent to Mason's bank account. Mason was happy as he went back to the car where his wife and daughter were, inviting them to spend the rest of the day celebrating their happy family.
Full Movie Recap of Freelance (2023)
CAST OF FREELANCE (2023)
John Cena as Mason Pettits
Alison Brie as Claire Wellington
Juan Pablo Raba as Venegas…
Christian Slater as Sebastian Earle
Alice Eve as Jenny Pettits
Marton Csokas as Colonel Jan Koehorst
Sebastian Eslava as Jorge Vásquez
Molly McCann as Casey…
Mauricio Cujar as General MartÃnez
Diego Vásquez as Village Chief
Nelson Camayo as Chief's son-in-Law
Matt Moody as Drill Instructor #1
Daniel Toro Moreno as Jorge's Male Aide
Charley Jones as Jeff
Gamal Dillard as Bank Teller
Roberto Cano as Eduardo Lavato
Felipe Andrés EchavarrÃa as Scott
Yusuf Tangarife as Gi-Gi Love
MORE INFO
Director: Pierre Morel
Writer: Jacob Lentz
Genres: Action - Comedy
Release date: October 27, 2023
Country of origin: United States
Filming locations: Colombia
Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
.webp)