The following is the word-for-word plot synopsis of Contention on IMDb: “Two step brothers who have grown apart, Chris Couture and Steward Shepard. The evil one, Chris, has to control everything and everyone in his world. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants: murder, kidnapping, drugs. The other a good soul Steward is seeking to avenge the murder of his former love. Mysterious characters with a surprising, explosive final confrontation.” The number of mistakes in that brief paragraph — missing commas, poor structuring, unnecessary words being used in misplaced spots — had me dreading the film before even watching it. But is that egregiously bad plot synopsis indicative of the quality of writer/director Bruce Gardner’s sophomore feature film?
Stewart (Vinny Giovanniello) worked in government intelligence, but left that high-stress job for calmer pastures. Unfortunately, life still stresses him out, as Stewart’s significant other leaves him for his stepbrother, Chris (Bill Houskeeper). This puts the wildly different siblings at odds for a very long time. But, Stewart and Bill cross paths again when a dead body shows up in front of Mr. Phoenix’s (Dennis Knight) business. The man puts Stewart on the case, as the two worked together previously. The business owner puts the man on the case despite the local police also investigating. But as Stewart looks into who killed the John Doe, with the help of his good friend, Jeremy (Edward W. Johnson), it becomes clear that Chris had more than one hand in the death.
A few plot holes make parts of Contention make zero sense. What authority does Mr. Phoenix have to let Stewart look into the dead body? If Chris is a small-time player in this mob game, how did he come across any of the money he uses in his loan shark dealings? Where did Chris’s current squeeze, Emily (Elizabeth Brannen Davenport), come from? There’s a quick line about her life as an escort, but how did she meet the villain? Why did he choose her? None of this is explored, so some characters are one-note, and parts of the narrative are head-scratching, to say the least.
“…as Stewart looks into who killed the John Doe…it becomes clear that Chris had more than one hand in the death.”
However, the cast is good enough to help push all watching past these bumps in the road. Davenport may have the worst-written role in the film, but she’s fierce and crazy in the best ways. Houskeeper is an excellent big baddie, exuding slime, menace, and grit with just one facial expression. Johnson makes a good sounding board for his on-screen crime-solving partner. Giovanniello is smooth and charismatic as the in-over-his-head main character. He handles the action very well and makes for a good romantic lead as well. His paramour, Nicole, is played by Lily Wirum. She’s very good, shares steamy chemistry with Giovanniello, and overcomes the damsel in distress trope thanks to a strong screen presence.
But where Contention moves far ahead of its competition is its action scenes. For whatever grammatical mistakes are present in the press materials or the plot holes in the screenplay, Gardner knows how to stage a fight. There are shootouts, fisticuffs, and mayhem galore. The director captures all the controlled chaos with excellent framing, quick but exciting edits, and a strong sense of place. The film is exciting above all else.
To answer the question posed in the first paragraph: No, the badly written synopsis does not translate to the quality of the action thriller. Contention does have plotholes and underwritten characters, yes, but it works where it matters most. The cast is fantastic across the board (even those not specifically called out), and they all handle the action believably. More importantly, though, is that the action is fast, furious, and fun.
"…exciting above all else."
