Freelancing the Stone

You know the I love stupid action adventure movies. Ms. Spenser less so, but still, she voted to watch Freelance (2023) out of a bundle of movies I picked up from the library.

It stars John Cena, who gives us his life story in a voice over/montage. As a kid, he valued justice, so he went to law school. That didn't do it for him, so he joined the Army and went Special Forces. This he liked. He was good at it, and one day, got sent on a secret op to kill the dictator of a Latin American country (Juan Pablo Raba). Before they can land, their helicopter is hit by a rocket. Cena survives, with some back problems.

So he becomes a lawyer again, falls in love, has a kid, gets a house in the suburbs, and generally dies inside. So when an old buddy (Christian Slater) who has started a private security company calls, he doesn't need much persuasion. 

The job he has is a short-term bodyguard assignment. An influencer/journalist, Alison Brie, is going to interview a reclusive, shadowy dictator - yep, it's Raba. But it should be easy money...

He doesn't get on very well with Brie on the way to Fredonia (or whatever it was called), thinking her a lightweight, because her biggest gig was "Celebrity Hot Tubs". But they made it there, met the Raba, and headed off to his Palace. On the way, they are ambushed - by Raba's own military. But of course, Cena gets them out.

They run for the jungle, with Cena protecting Brie and trying to shake Raba (after all, they are shooting at him). But he keeps turning up, and takes them to a village where he is beloved, and they all have a little fiesta.

This is where it really hit me: This is a Romancing the Stone knock-off - possibly second-hand, via The Lost City. This time, it's from the guy's point of view. Also, there's no romance, because he's married and faithful.

But it was still a lot of fun. I like this sort of movie (as I've said), especially if they're funny. This was funny enough, exciting enough, and ended with the bad guys (South African mercenaries) defeated. Raba even turns out to be a good guy who didn't shoot down Cena's chopper. And Slater appears at the last minute so that good old USA saves the day.