Gritty is one of the words that a reviewer might grope for while watching Contraband. The story is gritty. The characters are gritty - and not easy to sympathise with. Most of them have had difficult lives, and where we catch up with them life is certainly not any easier.

The setting is New Orleans, especially the waterfront (and without the tourist glamour). Much of the action is at sea. There is a visit to Panama City (which looks quite up-to-date).

Most of the characters are involved in contraband, one way or another. A young man gets himself and his friend into trouble by dropping smuggled drugs into the sea when they are pursued by the authorities.

Their dealer (Giovanni Ribisi at his most repellent) not only wants compensation, he uses the incident to force, the older brother of the rash young man to resume what he used to do before he married and had a family. This is not only dangerous in terms of contraband and detection, but there are, of course, shady characters, violent characters, who actions are unpredictable except for their nastiness. Gritty.

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