Kiefer Sutherland thinks 'The Contractor' differs from a typical action movie.

The 55-year-old actor stars with Chris Pine in Tarik Saleh's film and says it is more than just a standard movie for the genre.

Kiefer told the i newspaper: "It separates itself from a straight-up action movie, because it deals with things that are actually very moving."

The flick deals in the murky environment of private contracting and Sutherland says audiences will learn a lot when they watch the film.

The '24' star said: "A lot of people (will) have their eyes opened to a world that they just might know about."

Kiefer is the son of acting legend Donald Sutherland and recalled how he was struck working with his father on the 2015 western 'Forsaken'.

He recalled: "He's still the only actor that I've actually ever worked with that I caught got looking at.

"He was doing something – and I can't even remember what it was – that I found just fascinating. I was kind of watching him like a student. And then there was this long pause. It was like, 'Oh s***! That's me!' And I had to say, 'Sorry!' I forgot what I was supposed to do."

Sutherland's career went through a "dry spell" during the late 1990s after a number of his films flopped and it made him aware that he needed to star in successful projects.

He explained: "I realised that I had to become very selective about what I did, because I'd make a couple of things that just weren't very successful. If I wasn't careful, I was going to put myself in a position where I was just not going to be hireable."