Central Intelligence

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jason Bateman, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Aaron Paul, Ryan Hansen, Melissa McCarthy (uncredited)
Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Comedy
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An accountant (Kevin Hart) is reluctantly pulled into a dangerous game of espionage when he reconnects with a former high school classmate (Dwayne Johnson).

Review:

Tim: I'm still not sold on Kevin Hart as a comedy star. Obviously, the rest of the world disagrees with me, so we'll continue to see Hart comedies for years and years to come. I think he's an average actor and his shtick gets old fast. That being said, I like the idea of pairing Hart up with Dwayne Johnson- they are so different physically that is creates a fun visual dynamic. Central Intelligence works to capitalize on these differences. The movie is fine, but there's not much to get excited about.

The basic ideas of the film are solid. An accountant gets involved in spy stuff after reconnecting with a former high school classmate. The roles are reversed, too- in high school, he was the popular guy while the spy was bullied. Now, the spy is tough as nails, and the cool kid has lost his mojo. It creates some interesting dynamics and I appreciated those central ideas.

Outside of these unique characteristics, the story is about as bland as can be. There's good guys and bad guys, and they are trying to stop some plot. Honestly, it's been done so many times and there's just not enough here to be memorable. It's a generic, recycled plot. Now, the film does do a few things well- it creates enough ambiguity so that you're not totally sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. There were moments when I doubted whether I had it right or not. I thoroughly appreciated that, because it does help to pull up the otherwise rote plot.

Kevin Hart is fine in the lead role, but he didn't do anything inspiring. It's just a slight variation of the character he plays over and over again. He was a bit more of the straight man this time around, but it's basically interchangeable with many of his other roles. Dwayne Johnson's character was just odd. There were all these quirks associated with the character that didn't really contribute much. He likes unicorns, big deal. As much as I like Johnson, this character put him out of his comfort zone. I appreciate the effort he put forth to tackle the role, but it went beyond his current level of talent. There were too many moments where Johnson tried too hard and it looked like he was acting. I don't want him to stop pushing his limits, but this role was outside of his wheelhouse and it showed. A better director than Rawson Marshall Thurber (who, for the record, isn't terrible) would have gotten a better performance out of Johnson. It is legitimately fun to see these two very different actors spend so much of the movie interacting. It was clearly the biggest strength of the movie.

The supporting cast was fine. I always like seeing Amy Ryan. She was probably the right choice for the role. It was refreshing to see that character be a woman. Ryan exudes enough intelligence and strength to pull that role off. She didn't have anything especially interesting to do, but she worked. Jason Bateman was fine, but it was a safe role for him. He shows up, does his thing and hopes to generate laughs. I wasn't impressed. Melissa McCarthy has an unexpected cameo that does nothing besides supply a little surprise when you see her. I always love seeing Aaron Paul, but I just wish he had more to do. In a film like this with Hart and Johnson but needing screen time, it kind of sucks the air out for the rest of the cast.

This movie isn't laugh-out-loud funny. It has a few humorous points throughout the movie and does just enough to keep you guessing and mildly entertained. I didn't hate the film, for sure. I did expect more out of the Hart-Johnson collaboration. Central Intelligence is an okay movie, but it's another average film for both Hart and Johnson. These guys both need a major win and this movie wasn't delivering. Unfortunately, it made bank at the box office, so we'll undoubtedly see an inferior sequel soon.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



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