By Michael Heaton
Low expectations are in order for "Central Intelligence," the action/adventure buddy movie starring Dwayne Johnson and diminutive comedian Kevin Hart.
They play two guys who attended high school together in the class of 1996. Back in the day, Johnson was a chubby, awkward victim of school bullies, while Hart was the popular homecoming king and voted most likely to succeed. Hart extended an act of kindness toward Johnson during his darkest hour.
Flash-forward 20 years, and now Hart is a bored junior accountant, still married to his gorgeous high school sweetheart but feeling unfulfilled and longing for his glory days.
Johnson, on the other hand, has transformed himself into a mountain-sized Adonis and a cracker-jack killing-machine operative for the Central Intelligence Agency. Or is he?
These two unlikely friends are brought together by their 20-year high school reunion, an event to which the emotional core of the movie is rapidly hurtling. Much is made of the difference in the sizes of the two leading actors -- and Johnson's proclivity for leaping headlong into deadly situations while dragging the timid Hart along for the ride.
Johnson is being sought by a team of CIA agents who believe he has gone rogue and has actually become a terrorist who goes by the code name "the Black Badger." Meanwhile, Johnson has his own theories about the identity of "the Black Badger."
The plot and intrigue at the center of "Central Intelligence" are flimsy enough to render the whole story insignificant. And the frequent, cartoonish gunplay seems very inappropriate, given the recent horrible events in Orlando, Florida.
Both Johnson and Hart give good performances in their respective roles. Johnson digs down deep into in his artistic soul to reclaim and ruminate over the overweight, unpopular kid he was in high school. Hart plays the frightened and frustrated accountant with the mix of overblown anger and disbelief that he uses so well in his stand-up act.
It would be easy to dismiss "Central Intelligence" just based on the cookie-cutter "odd couple," buddy-flick concept. But some buddy/action flicks have been brilliantly conceived and executed.
Think of the 1982 "48 Hours" with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, directed by Walter Hill. That movie launched Murphy's glorious career.
Then there's the riveting and hilarious 1988 "Midnight Run," directed by Martin Brest, with Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as his on-the-lam Mob accountant.
Both those movies prove that the buddy/action flick can be elevated to high art and entertainment.
Too bad it didn't work out for "Central Intelligence."
REVIEW
Central Intelligence
Who: Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan and Aaron Paul. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.
Rated: PG-13 (for language and violence).
Running time: 107 minutes.
When: Opens Friday.
Where: Area theaters.
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