Wow! Such a good movie.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

hyped garbage

Best movie of this year hands down!

Well, you can certainly tell from watching The Human Contract that writer/director Jada Pinkett Smith knew exactly what she wanted to do with this film. It is equally clear she didn't have much of a clue how to actually do it. The result is like looking at someone who thinks they can do a magic act because they once saw Doug Henning perform.The surprisingly unattractive Julian Wright (Jason Clarke) is the creative heart of a small firm in what used to be called advertising but is now known as "brand management". He's also got a pending divorce and a complicated family history with his mother (Joanna Cassidy) and sister (Jada Pinkett Smith). The least of the complications is that Julian is white and his sister is black and if they explained that in the movie, I must have missed it.Just as his firm gets a buyout offer that could make Julian richer and more successful than he ever dreamed, he also meet an uninhibited iconoclast named Michael (Paz Vega) who challenges everything Julian has ever thought about himself and his life. They fall in lust, which this movie mistakes for love, and both his obsession with Michael and his family dysfunction end up threatened the buyout deal for Julian's firm.You know how something can sound great in your head but when you say it out loud it's not great at all? That's what The Human Contract is like. Smith clearly had a story to tell here. She just couldn't get it to come out right. This thing is poorly structured, has no sense of pace, doesn't have a firm grip on its main character, has too many supporting characters, too many extraneous scenes and piles up personal tragedy like it was stacking cordwood.Let me give you a couple of examples of the sort of unskilled storytelling at work here. Julian has a darkroom in his apartment with a combination lock on the door. When he meets Michael, they have some brief and playful banter about him not letting her inside. A while later, Michael makes a reference to the dark room in a post-coital embrace. Just a reference, mind you, not even asking for the combination. Then toward the end of the movie, the darkroom is put forth as this huge symbol of how Julian is closed off from Michael and everybody else. It's supposed to be a big moment, but Pinkett Smith spent only about 8 lines of dialog and less than 45 seconds of screen time building up to that big moment. She knew how important the darkroom was to the story, but she didn't know how to convey that to the audience. So, she really just fumbles around and then springs it on the viewer like a bear trap.The other example is the whole thing with the buyout. It's built up throughout The Human Contract as one of the major pressures on Julian and there are several scenes about how his behavior regarding his family and Michael is threatening the deal. Pinkett Smith is much more effective in building up to the question of whether the buyout will happen or not. Then when that big moment comes, it passes with a shrug and is never dealt with again. The audience is left to assume what happened, assume what the consequences were and assume how those consequences impacted Julian. Pinkett Smith obviously never heard the saying that when you ask someone to assume, you're making an "ass" out of "u" and "me".The Human Contract looks good and is relatively well performed, but it's like a beautiful woman with a sexy accent telling you a joke that isn't funny. You only laugh because you want her to have sex with you…which is not something this film is ever going to do. Save the fake laugh and watch something else.

It baffled me that Jada Pinkett-Smith had turned director but what baffled me more was the fact that she chose to make a random "soft porn" movie like this. It's a good effort on her part though, I'd give it 5/10 stars which is great considering that there are professional directors and writers out there who churn out crap year in year out and this film was made by an actress/first time director. Another thing I noticed was the fact that Paz Vega is a dead-ringer for Penelope Cruz, they sound alike, act alike and look alike. Also, Paz kinda also resembled Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif in this film, I guess because she was playing a exotic role. I would like to point out the fact that Idris Elba is actually from Britain (people a used to seeing him play American roles) and I guess that's some of you think his accent is bogus but it isn't. He used his natural accent in the film.

The title pretty much sums it up. I went into this film with low expectations since Jada Pinkett Smith has never been a good actress and now not a good director. The film has every cliché that you can imagine and the personal relationships are contrived at best.The director as a woman had her husband beg and plead for this opportunity instead of earning the opportunity herself. You don't start as a film director, because TV is usually the proving ground to get you noticed.These Hollywood couples make me want to puke because they spin out dreck like this film which is nothing new at all!!

I know no one will probably read this comment, but I had to take the time to write a comment. I truly admire Jada for wanting to do her thing, but this movie was not it. My husband and I watched this movie and are still left with trying to figure out what the heck she was trying to go with this movie. Yes it was dark, but dark with too much contrast and not enough to balance it out. All we got was dark very very little explanation of why the characters TRULY were the way they were. We all have secrets and locked closets, but to tell a story and not delve more into the psyche of the characters is irresponsible. The best books are written with the intent for us to relate to the character(s). Every movie starts as a book and this was not a good one. I feel as if the characters were developed more it could have and would have been a much better story. I still don't get Jada's part in the movie. An undeveloped story gives you unnecessary characters. I expected more from Jada because she has a lot of talent. This movie just didn't show it.