Central Intelligence

Usually when I have seen a Kevin Hart film, they are typically fraught with tons of four-letter words, sexual nuances and silly physical prat fall jokes. This has become the common staple of his films. However when I saw the trailer to "Central Intelligence" with Hart and Dwayne Johnson, I felt, in some way, that there was a potentially funny comedy there. One thing for sure, this is not your typical Hart film.

Mild-mannered accountant Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) is stunned when he reunites with an old high-school classmate named Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) on Facebook. Once an extremely overweight and frequently bullied teen, Bob is now a CIA agent who's now in perfect shape. However, their reignited friendship turns dangerous when Bob asks for Calvin's help with a crucial mission involving the hacking of U.S. spy satellites. Bob's biggest enemy with this mission is actually his colleagues including Agent Pamela Harris (Amy Ryan), Agent Stan Mitchell (Tim Griffin) and others. And this all leads up to a 20-year high- school class reunion which neither really want to attend.

Others to round out the cast are Danielle Nicolet as Maggie, Calvin's wife, Jason Bateman as Trevor, Aaron Paul as Phil, Bob's spy partner, Ryan Hansen as Steve, co-worker of Calvin's and Timothy John Smith as Nick Cooper.

This was credibly and frenetically directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber ("Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" '04, "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" '08, "We're the Millers" '13) plus TV. Comedy is definitely this filmmakers genre hence his resume. Although there was a spattering a dramatic moments in this, this was comedy with credible chemistry between Johnson and Hart. It was written by Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen and Thurber based on a story by Barinholtz and Stassen. I truly didn't have great expectations with the writing of this, pre the viewing of this, however after seeing this film, I was surprisingly pleased. It wasn't a great film, as far as the writing, but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting. First of all, as I said prior, the chemistry between Johnson and Hart worked, and, secondly, for a Hart film, there were actually a few dramatic, certainly toned-down scenes with the two stars that one wasn't expecting, which made for a rather unpredictable script. There were a couple of slow moments which could've cut the running time a bit, but over all, this storyline moved right along with the best of them. I'd like to see these work together in another film--even the outtakes during the end credits were a hoot.

I f you like spy films with a comedic slant, this will be the film for you. But what really makes this film soar is the chemistry between Johnson and Hart. Hart's frenetic side coupled with Johnson's more low-key side makes a terrific 'odd couple' buddy film. Grab the popcorn and have fun with this one.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                          Rated: PG-13                                  117mins.