Central
Intelligence
Back in 1996, Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) was the king of high school
when he reigned as the star of every team, President of the student
body, Homecoming King and the man voted Most Likely To Succeed.
Twenty years later, while he did marry his high school sweetheart,
Calvin finds himself dissatisfied with the life he leads working as an
accountant and never achieving his goals. All of that is about to
change.
As the 20-year reunion approaches, Calvin is contacted by Rob Stone
(Dwayne “Let’s Just Keep Calling Him The Rock”
Johnson). Rob was a nerd in high school who suffered horrible bullying,
and only Calvin was ever nice to him.
Now, Rob needs Calvin’s help, again. While he is an agent for the
CIA, Rob is on the run because he has been accused of killing his
partner and stealing secret codes, so he can sell them to terrorists.
Is Rob being framed?
If it wasn’t for Hart and The Rock, Central Intelligence
would have been arrested for impersonating a comedy.
Writers Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen, along with writer/director
Rawson Marshall Thurber, make Central Intelligence into a hodge
podge of just about every type of film genre you can imagine.
They try to make Central Intelligence into a buddy comedy, an
action film, a spy thriller, a drama, a tale opposed to bullying and
more. Heck, the only thing it is missing is the ghost of Andre The
Giant possessing The Rock to make it into a horror film.
I guess the idea was to make the movie into one that had a little
something for everyone, but the result is a film no one can completely
embrace, especially when it becomes as predictable and rote as you can
imagine.
Thankfully, The Rock and Hart are a great pair together. Their spirit
and their chemistry is why the audience finds more than enough chances
to laugh. With the obvious, classic combination of complete opposites,
most jokes write themselves, but the two bring these characters to life
in ways the script does not.
The Rock is at his finest as a man who appears to be slightly deranged
and completely enamored with the former Big Man On Campus. He makes Rob
into a lovable, huggable teddy bear trapped inside the body of a
professional wrestler, which leads to him scoring the biggest laughs
throughout Central Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Hart excels as the man in way over his head. Sadly, he gets
stuck with some of the more unimaginative crassness, but you will like
him as the straight man to The Rock’s comedic performance.
Central Intelligence could have used a bit
more intelligence, but still provides enough humor to get you through
the night, especially if you like the surprise cameos.
Central
Intelligence is rated PG-13 for crude
and suggestive humor, some nudity, action violence and brief strong
language.
116 Minutes
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