Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, and Diego Luna.

Mark Whalberg’s new  movie, “Contraband”, starts in an unlikely place —  the New Orleans harbor area of Louisiana. We find out early that Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) and his right-hand man and best friend Sebastian (Ben Foster) used to be involved in the high stakes smuggling business; a trade that put Farraday’s father in prison.

Farraday has decided to turn over a new leaf and has started a family in the suburbs with Kate (Kate Beckinsale). Both men have started up new companies of their own and seem to be living a safe and comfortable life.

That soon all falls apart when Kate’s brother, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a secret smuggling job of his own and owes the local drug lord, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), almost $700,000. Since he can’t pay it, Andy is certainly going to be killed. Farraday asks Briggs for time, but Briggs threatens to harm Farraday and his family if the money is not paid in two weeks.

To get the money Farraday must once again enter the smuggling business and attempt to smuggle counterfeit bills into the U.S. Using a cargo ship en route to Panama, Farraday attempts to move a pallate of cash, worth about $15 million, through Panama and to the ship. Things go bad quickly and Farraday tries to keep himself and his family alive.

“Contraband” exceeded my expectations. I didn’t expect much out of the film. I assumed I would see another “copy and paste” action film with a change in scenery and names.

I expected the enormous plot holes, physically impossible stunts and annoyingly predictable plot twists. “Contraband” did a pretty good job of staying away from those flaws and put together an entertaining story.

The premise and conclusion were not that far-fetched. There are “yeah right” and “how did that happen?” moments and a few plot holes, but nothing that deters viewers. The methods Farraday uses to smuggle the money makes scientific sense and theoretically could happen.

The wrap-up cuts it close. For awhile I thought that the cliché Hollywood happy ending was not going to happen.

My final verdict? See it. It comes close to rivaling “The Italian Job” both in action and plot. It’s not going to win movie of the year but it will keep you entertained from start to finish.