Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
An ex-special forces operative takes a job to provide security for a journalist as she interviews a dictator, but a military coup breaks out in the middle of the interview, they are forced to escape into the jungle where they must survive.
Freelance is a middling action-comedy that blends familiar elements—ex-special forces fish out of water, a feisty journalist, a bumbling dictator, and jungle survival—without doing much new with any of them. The plot is formulaic and predictable, leaning on genre conventions without subverting or elevating them. John Cena and Alison Brie have reasonable chemistry and deliver competent performances that elevate the material somewhat, but the supporting cast is underutilized and the comedy rarely lands with full force. Cinematography is workmanlike at best—functional jungle photography without any distinctive visual flair. The film offers little novelty, recycling the buddy-action-comedy template in a fairly by-the-numbers way. The ending wraps up tidily and unsurprisingly, offering no real dramatic payoff. It's a passable, forgettable studio action-comedy that sits comfortably in the lower-mid tier of its genre.