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Bad Company
Bad Company êê ( PG-13 )
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Reviewed By Demetrius Payne
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The Odd Couple-revisited
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Chris Rock: Jake Hayes
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Anthony Hopkins: Gaylord Oakes
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30 Second Bottom Line: When a Harvard educated CIA agent is killed during an operation, the agency recruits his "school-of-hard-knocks" educated twin brother (Chris Rock). He and a stodgy, by-the-book agent, played by Anthony Hopkins, team up to save the world.
Story Line: Jake Hayes (Chris Rock) is a down on his luck, decent hearted, two-bit hustler, who was brought up in a loving foster home and has a good head on his shoulders; but he always looks to take short cuts and consequently screws up-A LOT. Enter CIA agent Gaylord Oakes (Anthony Hopkins), just when Jake's luck is going from bad to worse.
Tell Me More About It: To the best of my memory, the last two movies that starred Chris Rock (and not just his voice) were Down To Earth and Pootie Tang, neither one of them made a lot of money. That has something to do with the fact that Pootie Tang couldn't have sucked more if was made by the people who make Hoover vacuums. But also, while Chris Rock is one of the funniest men on the planet, by his own admission, he's not much of an actor. Maybe the makers of this movie took that into account because a great way of covering that up is by playing him opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Another tactic is to shoot the movie primarily in Prague, in the Czech Republic, one of the loveliest cities on earth. Both these factors put together don't cover up the fact that there are some moments when Rock's character is supposed to be dramatic, tense, and troubled and all the while he comes off as a real funny guy TRYING to be dramatic, tense, and troubled. Which is to say that he isn't very believable-he's entertaining as always, but his believability is low, as always.
Director Joel Schumaker does make a visually arresting film and there are few complaints with the supporting cast. My problem with this movie is the same as all of Chris Rock's movies. I would love to see him do what Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence did back in the day¾concert movies like Raw and Talkin' Sh/t. But if you can't wait for him to do that and you've enjoyed his previous attempts at acting, you just might enjoy this movie.
Rated PG-13 for Chris Rock-style humor and Joel Schumaker type action
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Demetrius Payne
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Mini Filmography
Chris Rock-Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Osmosis Jones
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Anthony Hopkins-
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Director: Joel Schumaker-Flawless, 8mm
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