Central Intelligence (2016)
Action, Comedy
Directed By: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Often times comedy can succeed in ways that most other films cannot, they can substitute story for jokes and character development for chemistry, just as long as they keep the movie tight. It's easy to forgive a lackluster plot when the lead characters are spouting ten jokes a minute, with most of them landing, and their chemistry is off the charts. Such is the case with the newest film from writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber (We're the Millers) which pits Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock up against Kevin Hart in one of the year's best buddy comedies, Central Intelligence.
Calvin Joyner aka Golden Jet (Kevin Hart) was the king of his high school, captain of all the sports teams, straight A's, and the guy everyone thought would go on to do great things. Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) on the other hand was an overweight misfit who took more than his share of abuses from the school bullies. Fast forward twenty years and the roles have switched, Calvin is living life as an everyday accountant and Bob has become a secret agent for the CIA and when their 20 year high school reunion brings him back to town the two end up in the middle of a giant conspiracy that see's them in the crossfire much more than calvin would ever be comfortable with.
When you take a step back and examine this film you pretty much see it is a vehicle for The Rock and Kevin Hart, the two strike great chemistry on screen and this movie is a two hour excuse for them to run around riffing one liner after one liner off of each other. The jokes come at you at a rapid pace from start to finish which keeps this film funny throughout and even when the occasional joke doesn't land another hits so fast you will easily overlook what doesn't work for you. The flick hits most every corner of comedy you can think of giving a bit of flavor for every kind of fan, much like Thurber's other comedic outings.
This film lives and dies by the performances of the two leads, without them and their wonderful chemistry this entire film falls flat. Not only do these two share a screen together better than most comedy duo's we've seen recently but this film also allowed both of them to step out of their typical characters for a bit and try something different. Kevin Hart plays a more reserved character, yeah he has his moments of classic Hart obnoxiousness but for the most part he's giving a much more understated performance.
Then there is The Rock, who makes a choice with his character and sticks with it through the entire movie and let me tell you, it pays off big time. He's not your average CIA agent, despite his huge muscles and extreme training he is still a teenager at heart. From the way he talks to the way he dressed his character is a 90's teen stuck in The Rocks body and man does it make for some great comedy. This also plays into the whole "big man/little man" dynamic that this films exploits in all the best ways.
The one unfortunate aspect of the movie is that all of this great chemistry and character moments all mask a fairly dull story. Even for a silly action comedy this plot didn't offer much to engage the audience and make them care what happens to these characters. The only reason we really care about the two leads is because they have struck such great chemistry. If you are going to this movie just to laugh and be charmed by The Rock however, this is an easy thing to get over.
When you make a flick with Dwayne Johnson there has to be some great action scenes, regardless of how funny the jokes are we want to see The Rock use those muscles on some dirty bad guys and this film does not disappoint in that respect either. Once Johnson's character arrives on screen it isn't long before we see him in a bar fight where he ends up disarming and taking down four large men with guns and from there it just keeps coming. It's refreshing to see an action comedy that delivers wholly in both of those areas.
Above all else Central Intelligence reminds us that these movies need to set out to be funny first and then worry about the rest later. I go see these movies to have a good time and to laugh a lot, I wasn't looking for the next great crime thriller but rather the next great Dwayne Johnson performance, and I definitely got it. After being disappointed by the lack of charm in the disaster film San Andreas last year it was a relief to see him more charming than ever in this one. Any fans of his, Kevin Hart, or the filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber are sure to have a blast with this flick. Anyone looking for some lighter fare that is sure to have them laughing shouldn't hesitate to check this one out in theaters.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach WHo Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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