Review #1,383: 'Central Intelligence' (2016)

The buddy-action-comedy movie was born in the cocaine-pumped 1980s, and should have been put to rest for good when they stopped being funny around the time Lethal Weapon 4 was released in 1998. But when you take two bankable stars and place them together side-by-side, studios cannot resist the pull of the buddy movie. What they don't realise however, is that the sub-genre is very tricky indeed, and the only good example in recent years that springs immediately to mind was helmed by the guy who really kicked the whole thing off - Shane Black's The Nice Guys. I'm sure there are others, but these films are mainly lazily-written and clumsily-plotted, mainly because it's easy to make money from them as long as you have two likeable stars to splash across the poster. Central Intelligence is one such movie that leans too heavily on the charisma of its leads - Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson - failing to make the most of what is actually an intriguing premise.

Back in high school, Calvin Joyner (Hart) was an all-star athlete, homecoming king, and all-round decent fella. Fast forward twenty years and he is working as a forensic accountant, watching the youngster he once schooled get promoted above him and having it all rubbed in his face by the obligatory office douchebag. Out of the blue, he is contacted via Facebook by somebody named Bob Stone, and Calvin curiously accepts his friend request. Bob turns out to be Robbie Weirdicht (Johnson), the once-chubby kid who was humiliated in high school when he was thrown buck-naked into an assembly hall during Calvin's honorary speech. Robbie, however, has grown up to be The Rock and is now tall, muscular and confident, although he is still goofy. He loves unicorns and fanny packs, and worships Calvin ever since the most popular guy in school was the only one to feel sympathy for Robbie by handing him his sports jacket to cover up. They meet for drinks and have a good time, but when the CIA come knocking on Calvin's door the next day, it becomes clear that Bob isn't everything he appeared to be, and may in fact want Calvin's help with tracking down a shadowy criminal known as the Black Badger.

There are some darker, more interesting paths director Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, We're the Millers) could choose to explore here, but Central Intelligence turns out to be the very definition of formulaic. It actually stars off well, with Hart and Johnson proving to be a highly watchable pair who share great chemistry, and both actors playing against type. When the shaky, poorly choreographed action sequences kick off, they fall back into familiar routines, with Johnson effortlessly disposing of bad guys and Hart shrieking as chaos ensues around him. The comedy becomes uncomfortably forced, and proves that improvisation isn't as easy to direct as Hollywood seems to believe it to be. Someone like Larry Charles or Adam McKay would have likely made much more out of this, but in Thurber's hands the tone shifts wildly, and the actors' energy levels change vastly from one scene to the next. The likes of Amy Ryan and Jason Bateman are wasted in forgettable roles, and as soon as you see who plays Bob's former partner via flashback (there's a sub-plot questioning Bob's mental stability and ultimate goal), you'll likely unravel what little mystery the film flirts with. Hart and Johnson won't be harmed by this, as they simply aren't the problem here. The problem is the flat direction, tiresome plot and unforgivably boring action scenes.


Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Jason Bateman, Aaron Paul
Country: USA/China

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie