Central Intelligence

Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Jason Bateman, Aaron Paul, Ryan Hansen, Tim Griffin, Timothy John Smith, Sione Kelepi, Dylan Boyack, Thomas Kretschmann
Production: New Line Cinema

From the producers of Blue Streak (1999), Wedding Crashers (2005) and Role Models (2008) comes Central Intelligence the newest buddy comedy in a long, long, long, long line of paint-by-numbers buddy comedies. In it Calvin "The Jet" Joyner (Hart); formerly the most popular kid in high school, reconnects twenty years later with kinda-sorta friend Bobby Wierdick on the eve of a high school reunion. Growing up, Bobby was morbidly obese, painfully awkward and either bullied or ignored by his classmates. Now Bobby has transformed to Bob Stone; a Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shaped behemoth who up until the eve of the reunion was a field agent for the CIA. After a night catching up, Calvin is harangued into an espionage plot involving a mysterious terrorist known as the Black Badger.

If you were reading the description for the film and automatically thought "ooo fun" then you probably won't be disappointed by Central Intelligence. It's a movie you kind of have to meet halfway as far as shutting down your brain and activating your funny-bone. But once you get there you won't be disappointed. The jokes are broad and occasionally go on too long but they are still reliably funny. In fact, between Keanu (2016), Ride Along 2 (2016) and Zoolander 2 (2016), Central Intelligence is hands down the funniest film coming out of the buddy comedy sub-genre this year. I realized when compared to the aforementioned that's not the strongest endorsement. Allow me to explain further.

What makes this film a cut-above the banal helpings of gauche odd couple movies and Martin Lawrence vehicles is the themes of its screenplay. Scribes Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen build a opposites annoy scenario out of a very universal desire to become extraordinary."I really thought I was going to change the world," Calvin says grimly to Bob while walking the halls of his alma mater. When we first see Calvin after graduation, he works as an accountant, pushing papers and passive-aggressively hating on his shiftless co-workers. His only solace is his high school sweetheart Maggie (Nicolet) but even then cracks in the veneer incite her to seek counseling. His life is stagnating. All seems lost; then Bob sends him a Facebook friend request.

Imagined if this guy bullied you in high school...

Much like the film's themes, the success of Central Intelligence also relies on our two charming leads. Kevin Hart plays against-type as the straight man to Johnson's farcical antics. You're not really sure if Johnson's pony obsessing, geeking out to 80's movies and all around light stalker-ish behavior is all an elaborate ruse but his gleeful acceptance of the role he's given is downright endearing. He slips seamlessly from gawky fruitcake, to bada** beefcake all the while teaching Calvin a few lessons about appreciating what you have and who you are along the way.

If there is a stumble it lies with the CIA plot point which, while providing some decent action set-pieces, never seems exactly necessary. It's given no weight or consequence putting all the cards squarely on whether Calvin should trust Bob. If anything, this tension halves the audiences' attention between the tenuous partnership and the rekindling friendship. We not sure until the end whether Bob has truly gone rogue thus we don't know if Calvin is just an unwilling patsy forced to do financial work for a suspected terrorist. One couldn't help but wonder if the script was tinkered just a bit to give the audience more information vital to the story, the movie could have been just a skosh better.

Yeesh, just when you thought the CGI in The Scorpion
King (2002) was bad

On it's own however, Central Intelligence is a tolerable little time-waster. It provides more chuckles, stronger direction, stronger story than the competition. It gets two entertaining performances out of its charming leads and even features a few casting surprises along the way. Pound for pound, this film is the funniest currently in theaters.

Final Grade: C