Cinema Scholars interviews Tarik Saleh, director of the new action/thriller The Contractor. The film stars Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Kiefer Sutherland. Paramount Pictures is releasing The Contractor in theaters nationwide on April 1, 2022.
Introduction
In most movies, there is a good guy and a bad guy. The protagonist and the antagonist. The white hat vs the black hat. But the trend in today’s narratives explores the gray areas within the once cut and dry hero vs villain trope.
While it may not always be an easy pill to swallow, analyzing the various perspectives and motivations for characters of every ilk makes for an incredibly thought-provoking and compelling narrative. In the new Paramount Pictures release, The Contractor, the line between right and wrong is intentionally blurred to better illustrate the true complexity of the human condition.
Synopsis
In The Contractor, James Harper (Chris Pine) is a U.S. Special Forces sergeant going through the routine physical training and medical screening required for his service. Unlike similar trials in the past, the off-label drugs he uses to deal with his on-the-job injuries are discovered in his blood work. Unfortunately for Harper, this means immediate military discharge. No second chances. No passing go to collect $200. After years of risking his life for God and country, he is suddenly out of a job and a purpose.
Enter Mike (Ben Foster), Harper’s former commanding officer and ride-or-die best friend. He has a private sector offer that Harper can’t refuse. Mercenary work with a payday that will solve his family’s money problems in one fell swoop. Harper balks at such a proposal initially. Yet faced with newfound listlessness, plus financial doom, he decides to go for it. Aside from the typical risk, however, Harper soon discovers that his new gig comes with moral consequences as well.
Director Tarik Saleh weaves together an action-packed story about honor and loyalty amid real-world issues and personal demons. With previous politically charged projects under his belt, Saleh is no stranger to uncomfortable, yet necessary, subject matter. In The Contractor, Saleh uses his unique perspective to tell a poignant story within a technically detailed depiction of elite tactical work.
Cinema Scholars’ Rebecca Elliott spoke with director Tarik Saleh about helming The Contractor. They discuss the attention to accuracy, choreographing action sequences, and working with Chris Pine and Ben Foster.
Interview
Rebecca Elliott:
Thanks so much for talking to me today about The Contractor. First off, I was looking over your filmography, and I noticed that you started out with some politically charged documentaries. How do you think that informs your work on such a multifaceted military fringe film as The Contractor?
Tarik Saleh:
I think it informed everything, actually. Working on both Sacrificio and Gitmo, the backbone of it is the military guys. It’s guys that have been working with unconventional warfare. In Gitmo, I did that between 2003 and 2005, it was the rise of Blackwater and when contracting became known to the public. It dealt with that, and I interviewed a lot of ex-contractors for that film. For one thing, I was well-versed, and I went to Guantanamo in 2003, and spoke to a lot of the soldiers out there and spoke to military intelligence. I sort of knew the difference. Most Europeans, don’t understand.
In America, the army is a huge thing. It’s so big. It employs millions of people and it’s like Walmart comparatively, right? So it affects everyone. Inevitably, everyone has family in some sort of military job. So as I was very walking into that. Therefore, I felt that I wanted to portray it as realistically as possible. And respectful. In truth, being respectful to me is being honest and talking about things like fear and talking about things like being away from your family. In addition, I think James feels that they throw him away like a Dixie cup when they’re done with him. There’s nothing. It’s unfortunately true. I don’t think that’s just in this film. Most guys I spoke to… there was a feeling of, not… betrayal is too strong of a word, but a sense of sorrow. Unfortunately, the work and the sacrifices they had done had not been appreciated.
Elliott:
They’re replaceable, essentially.
Saleh:
Replaceable people in society. I mean, we say that we celebrate our troops and we respect them, blah, blah, blah. But in reality, we celebrate celebrities.
Elliott:
Yeah.
Saleh:
That’s what we do.
Elliott:
It’s true.
Saleh:
Basically, it’s more interesting to follow some reality star than to sit down and listen to the experience of someone that came back from Afghanistan and had all his friends or her friends killed. Essentially, that was at the core of understanding him as a human being. And also understanding that a lot of times they miss the military because they miss having this sort of structure around them and also the friendship and the brother and sisterhood that comes from that.
Elliott:
Right. The purpose.
Saleh:
So to me, that was important. The beating heart of the film is this friendship between him and Mike, right?
Elliott:
Total bond.
Saleh:
They are brothers. It’s very moving. Surprisingly, for me, it was the moment when he was at dinner at Mike’s. It’s the first time he laughs and smiles when he’s with his friend that whom he has shared all these memories. He can really relax for the first time. Start to talk about his own fears that he can’t even share with his wife because he doesn’t want. Of course, he loves his wife and he loves his son and he wants to be a strong family provider. Certainly, I think it’s a male flaw that we have that. I mean, I could definitely identify. I feel totally emasculated if I don’t provide.
Elliott:
Sure.
Saleh:
For instance, I feel like nothing which is kind of pathetic because I mean, a lot of times my daughters, for example, just want me to be home.
Elliott:
Of course. They just want you. Yeah.
Saleh:
They don’t want me to go and shoot the family of Romania to provide, to buy them the whole My Little Pony Village. They want me to be home.
Elliott:
Right. Right.
Saleh:
You know.
Elliott:
His humanity is well-established. But on top of that, you also have this incredibly detailed story, with all of these technical nuts and bolts, from the dialogue to the tactical gear and protocol. Can you talk about some of the research that went into that? Plus, I’m sure working with consultants and…
Saleh:
Oh yeah.
Elliott:
…and that sort of thing. The attention to detail was so incredible. Even when I don’t understand necessarily what people are talking about, you get the gist of it. You understand the importance. I think it’s cool that you didn’t have to explain everything because of the visual detail.
Saleh:
Thanks. I’m glad you appreciate that because Bert [Kuntz], who’s the military advisor on this film is a Green Beret and a very close friend. And it was incredible to have him. I just said to him “You know Bert, I would like to have you, even if I do a romantic comedy, I would like to have you here. I just feel safe around you.” As human beings, these kinds of guys is exceptional. But as the Special Forces and Green Berets, are truly exceptional. I mean, they are so good at what they do, and they are extremely sophisticated. This guy speaks three languages.
Elliott:
Whoa.
Saleh:
Yeah. Thai, Vietnamese, and English. Like, what?! Of course, he has his military thing- he’s not the film guy. He’s a military guy, so, for example, he’s always like…he just stands silently next to me. I’m directing and I always turn to him, and I’m like, “Bert, how does this look to you?” And he’s like, “Sure, I don’t want to step over my boundaries.” I’m like, “Speak freely, Bert.” He just says, “Okay, people don’t like that when they die.” There were also other scary details like, for example, that scene when they’re at the lab? I asked him, “How would you burn down this lab? How would you do it?” And he didn’t need to think a second. He was like, “Space heater, cap, da, da, da, this and that.” And you’re just like, holy shit. You don’t even have to think. And that’s, of course, scary. But part of that is that they are trained to. I mean, the training is incredible. I mean, some of the things they do, you can’t talk about.
Elliott:
Ohhhh, right.
Saleh:
It was amazing. To be honest, that’s what’s great about working with Hollywood is that there are resources for that. And of course, the stunt coordinator on this film is the legend Jack Gill, who is the only guy who has shot the second unit for Sidney Lumet, and who’s been around forever and is still doing Fast and The Furious films. It was so much fun because for me as a European kid, I mean, half Egyptian half Swedish, I’m just this kid playing with these toys. Which is so fun because you can ask for anything.
Elliott:
In big action sequences, sometimes visually the audience can get lost. But it seems to be so perfectly choreographed, and also visually choreographed so that the audience always has an anchor point. Can you talk about keeping it all visually anchored?
Saleh:
Grounded you. Yeah. It was a choice. Thankfully, I was very lucky to have the producers and the studio on board with that. These days, kids watch superhero films and there is no gravity. There is nothing. People just fly and there’re immortal, and that’s great. I mean, it looks fantastic and amazing and everything, nonetheless. I was directing Westworld and Ray Donovan and things like that. And it’s a lot of fun to just play around. But ultimately, I think that with this story, the stakes needed to be very high. Above all, I wanted to keep it on eye level with the character. I wanted the audience to experience what he experiences. Therefore, the violence needs to have consequences.
For instance, my big hero in terms of action thrillers is Michael Mann. There is a detail that he and Sam Peckinpah, both of them do this thing that they always show fear. Consequently, when someone dies, there is a moment of fear, right? In modern action films, a lot of times I miss that. I think that they sort of just make it entertaining. And of course, there is a limit. But I also think that we have to understand that this guy, once he starts, he doesn’t stop. In a way, there is a monster living inside of him and he knows that. And that, to me is interesting also. This character knows that there is something… for example, when one of the characters tells him, “Sometimes the monster come to stay.”
Elliott:
Speaking of that intensity, you have this incredible leading actor, Chris Pine. Additionally, he has already established this awesome chemistry in Hell or High Water, with Ben Foster. Who is also incredible. Pine with his intensity and Ben Foster’s seemingly effortless authenticity is just an amazing combination. So how was it working with those two dynamic actors, and what did they bring to the table as well?
Saleh:
Actually, they bring everything. First, Ben is an incredible collaborator. He’s now directing too, which it’s not surprising to me at all. He is so lovely. in addition, he is also a guy who is so detailed and prepared. Second, they’re very different, Chris and Ben, they’re very different. Chris is very sophisticated. He’s super intelligent. Moreover, I think he studied English literature. As a result, he’s very well-read. Ben is a method actor. He will come as the character.
Elliott:
Oh wow.
Saleh:
And one cool thing with Ben is that Ben will just…for example, the first time we met, he just said, “Give me the numbers to hold. Give the number to the costume, to props. They can call me right away. No, no, no agents. Just call me, because I want to be involved in every single aspect of my character.” So he is a very down-to-earth, hard worker. Additionally, there’s an incredible story of when we were shooting in LA. We were shooting in Santa Clarita and we couldn’t lock off a highway. And it was difficult because we had to shoot them walking in the street, and there was security and blah, blah, blah. Although it wasn’t locked yet, the police officers that had the final say said, “Is it true that Ben Foster is in this film?” and then said, “Yeah, okay. So we’re going to lock off the whole role because of what he has done for the military and for the honest portrayals. We just love him.”
Unquestioningly, that just tells you something that a lot of these guys really, really love him because of his portrayals. So, for me, it was kind of daunting. First of all, Hell Or High Water is a beautiful film. I didn’t want this film to be compared with that. Right? That’s like suicide. But then I was like, that’s my ego. It’s not about me, it’s about the film. And it’s about this story in the end. So you know, these guys have this chemistry? Let’s play. Hey, let’s have fun. And it’s so much fun to be around them. I mean, they’re very funny guys.
Elliott:
They’re both so great in it. It’s so cool to hear about the different dynamics that they bring. And, furthermore, to hear that awesome story about Ben foster. Oh my gosh. I love that. I’m afraid my time is almost up here, so I’d better wrap this up. I did just want to say that, fortunately, I got to see your film Metropia at Fantastic Fest back in 2009. I got to actually see it on the big screen, and the animation style was incredible.
Saleh:
You were there when Alexander [Skarsgård] was there?
Elliott:
Yeah, I was there. It was kind of crazy, huh?
Saleh:
Okay. Sorry. We’re going to just extend for one minute. Because I have to tell you this story. Okay, so I’ve known Alex since he was just a guy going to soccer games here in Stockholm. We basically grew up together. So when we did Metropia, he had only done a little work in the states. He had done Generation Kill, but that had not catapulted him. So the first time we met after True Blood was there, at Fantastic Fest. And he told me, he called me and he said, “Listen, Tarik, things have changed a little bit.” I was like, “What do you mean?” He’s like, “Life is a little bit different now. You’ll see.” So, I’m like, okay, be prepared. It’s a little bit crazy.
Elliott:
Yeah. He was mobbed!
Saleh:
I was like, “How is it? Oh my God.” You know, like “What the hell is going on, Alex? This is crazy.” And I mean, now we’re used to it. We are neighbors now. He’s amazing.
Elliott:
What a great story. I didn’t know you two had that connection. That was an awesome screening. I’d love to ask you about a possible return to animation, but I’m already in trouble for running us over! So I’ll let you go, but thank you so much. I really appreciate your time today. Thank you.
Saleh:
Thank you. Take care.
Paramount Pictures is releasing The Contractor in theater nationwide on April 1, 2022.
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