Watch: Mark Wahlberg talks family angle in 'Contraband' and Golden Globes

One last job goes wrong. A simple smuggling becomes a bigger heist. The story has been told over and over again in Hollywood, but "Contraband" actor and producer Mark Wahlberg sees a little more to this crime-thriller.

"It's got all the action and stuff that people enjoy, but it's really about family," Wahlberg told HitFix in our recent interview. "The guy has to be as smart and as quick on his toes as he is with his fists."

"The guy" is his character Chris Farraday, an ex-smuggler who returns to his old pastime in order to save his brother-in-law from a serious debt to a local crime lord in New Orleans. This film is a remake of 2008's "Reykjavik-Rotterdam," starring Baltasar Kormákur, who turned around and directed "Contraband."

Wahlberg thinks American audiences will be excited because "the writing is really good" and the "best actors possible" rounded out the cast -- faces like Giovanni Ribisi as bad guy Tim Briggs, Ben Foster as Farraday's troubled best friend and Kate Beckinsale as Farraday's wife.

As the movie opens this weekend (Jan. 13), the 40-year-old actor will have another reason to keep his eyes on the headlines. "Boardwalk Empire" is up for another slew of Golden Globe awards, and Wahlberg with his executive co-producers Terry Winter, Martin Scorsese, Tim Van Patten and Stephen Levinson are thrilled to be backing their cast.

"It's always nice when you can get that kind of recognition for your work," Wahlberg said of the various nominations. "Hopefully we'll win again this year."

Check out HitFix's interview with "Contraband" actor Giovanni Ribisi here.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.