Contraband wastes considerable energy, and
several likable performers, including Mark Wahlberg, in taking us
to a place we’ve visited far too many times before. Although the
story concerns drug-smuggling, and is set in New Orleans and at the
Panama Canal, writes Kurt Loder, this is a by-the-numbers heist
flick of such predictability that at several points you wonder why
it’s even unfolding.

We Need to Talk About Kevin, on the other hand, writes
Loder, considers the dark question of where monsters come from. The
movie is arctic in its emotional tone, with a carefully reined-in
pace; and while it nods lightly in the direction of the old
nature-versus-nurture debate, it settles firmly on the side of
nature, demonstrating that sometimes evil just is.