There are some actors or actresses of whom you’ll see their films blindly. This has long been the case for me with Nicolas Cage (but not anymore), but I am still able to enjoy movies in which Jason Statham, Schwarzenegger or Stallone star. The same is the case for Dwayne Johnson. The former wrestler has proven himself after The Scorpion King and is able to, just by his presence, to make them at least bearable (Ballers, I’m looking at you). He is an action star who is also able to do successful comedies and recently announced his own YouTube channel with a bombastic trailer. Someone who isn’t afraid to do something crazy while at the same time making sure it doesn’t feel artificial. Central Intelligence is his latest comedy in which he has worked together with comedian Kevin Hart. With its tagline “Saving the world takes a little Hart and a big Johnson” the tone is immediately set, but does that mean an enjoyable comedy?
The movie opens with a shot of Dwayne Johnson as you have never seen him before, when his character Bob Stone still is in high school. Everyone is making fun of him, while Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) is the most popular person in school. Years later Calvin, who was voted “most likely to succeed”, doesn’t seem to have realised his dreams. He works in a small office and isn’t chosen for a promotion he was hoping on. The relationship with his wife Maggie (Danielle Nicolet) is running into some trouble and he has agreed to follow therapy with her. He doesn’t want to go and when he receives a Facebook invitation to connect with Bob Stone he immediately does so. Although Bob immediately contacts him to meet up the same evening he agrees. Bob turns out to no longer be the guy he once was and slowly Calvin is pulled into an international web of intrigue, not knowing whether Bob really is the person he says he is.
If you’ve seen Kevin Hart in any of his previous movies you might expect him to play the same type of character, but he does tone it down a little. He’s mostly the straight guy to Johnson’s weird antics. Johnson is extremely funny whether that is because the unexpected moments he suddenly appears or when he does something strange, it all works and it Hart plays the character responding to that. The two are fun together and although the story, about retrieving a secret code, isn’t anything special the movie itself just works. A perfect comedy to relax to and not think too much.
