Freelance (2023 film)

Freelance is a 2023 American action comedy film directed by Pierre Morel and written by Jacob Lentz in his feature writing debut. It stars John Cena, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba, and Christian Slater.

Plot
Mason Pettits is a former U.S. Army Special Forces operator, who was injured and medically discharged after a failed mission to assassinate Juan Venegas, the dictator of the South American country of Paldonia. Years later, Mason, stuck in a dead-end job at a law firm, is approached by an old teammate, Sebastian Earle, who offers him a highly paid private security job where he has to protect disgraced journalist Claire Wellington as she travels to Paldonia at the invitation of Venegas, who wishes to improve his public image with an interview in the midst of an uprising against his regime. The mission upsets his wife Jenny, who doesn't want their daughter Casey to live without a father, should something happen.

After arriving in Paldonia and meeting Venegas, they are ambushed by an anti-Venegas militant group, destroying their vehicles in the process. Mason fights off the assailants and they escape into the jungle. Venegas deduces that their attackers were his own soldiers in disguise, and that the assassination attempt is actually a coup orchestrated by his nephew Jorge with the aid of military advisor Colonel Jan Koehorst. Mason tries to leave Venegas behind while bringing Claire with him, but the two are ambushed by mercenaries. Mason, with a little help from Venegas, fights them off, and the group arrives at a village where Venegas is highly respected.

Claire successfully films her interview with Venegas. While Mason bonds further with Claire, he resists her romantic advances, remembering his family back home. The next day, Venegas hints at a real purpose for Mason's job - Mason calls Sebastian, who informs him that he was actually hired to ingratiate himself with the dictator and then assassinate him. Jan and his men subsequently arrive at the village and chase the group; Mason and Venegas manage to escape while Claire is captured.

While on the way to Paldonia's capital, Venegas reveals that he wasn't responsible for killing Mason's friends during their mission. Later, the two stage a trade with Claire, while Venegas reveals that the "revolution" against his regime was staged and that he is in fact much loved by his people. The next day, during said trade, Venegas brings in fake protestors to distract Jan as he, Mason, and Claire flee to the safety of the presidential palace. There, Venegas convinces Jorge to help him lead the country better, but General Martínez, Venegas's trusted lieutenant, reveals himself as another conspirator; Jorge is killed shielding his uncle.

Jan and his men arrive at the palace, and a shootout ensues between them and Venegas' palace guards, during which Mason fights Jan alone. Jan reveals that he was responsible for killing Mason's crew. Claire, who films the battle, helps Mason defeat Jan. Afterwards, Sebastian and his team arrive and deal with the rest of Jan's militants.

Sometime later, Claire has managed to restore her career with the footage from Paldonia, Venegas steps down from power in favor of democratic elections, and Mason reunites with his family before being gifted $5 million by Venegas, allowing him to leave his hated job.

Cast

 * John Cena as Mason Pettits, a medically retired Army Special Forces and now lawyer
 * Alison Brie as Claire Wellington, a journalist
 * Juan Pablo Raba as President Juan Venegas
 * Christian Slater as Sebastian Earle, Mason's boss, and former Army Special Forces
 * Alice Eve as Jenny Pettits, Mason's wife
 * Marton Csokas as Colonel Jan Koehorst, a South African mercenary working against Venegas
 * Sebastián Eslava as Jorge Vásquez, Venegas' nephew

Mason's and Jenny's daughter is portrayed by child actress Molly McCann.

Production
Freelance is the feature writing debut of television screenwriter Jacob Lentz. The film was announced on October 6, 2021, with Pierre Morel directing and John Cena attached to star. The film was reported to have a budget of at least $40 million. In January 2022, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba, Alice Eve, Marton Csokas, and Christian Slater joined the cast. Filming began in Colombia on January 17, 2022, with cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, and wrapped in April 2022.

Release
Freelance was released in theaters by Relativity Media on October 27, 2023. It was released on premium video on demand on November 28, 2023 with a DVD and Blu-ray release date of March 12, 2024.

Box office
The film made $880,000 from 2,057 theaters in its first day, and went on to debut to $2.1 million, finishing in seventh.

Critical response
Freelance was largely panned by critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 58% overall positive score, with 27% saying they would definitely recommend the film.