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Review by Harvey Karten
2½ stars out of 4
What do people look for when they go to a thriller that pairs a
comic actor with one who is deadly serious? My guess is
probably laughs and the proverbial roller coaster ride. Does
"Bad Company," which links the versatile Anthony Hopkins with
one of the best of today's American comics, deliver? In part,
yes. "Bad Company" is hip and works quite well during its first
half when its title could have been "Pygmalion Meets Run
DMC," but falters when the gunplay and car crashes become
cookie-cutter and Chris Rock's lines, penned by Jason Richman
and Michael Browning, run to corn instead of popping.. "Bad
Company" is on the whole an entertaining popcorner with just
the right chemistry between Hopkins and Rock, but once you
can predict that the CIA people with their semiautomatic pistols
will easily outgun the Russian mafiosi and the Yugoslav
terrorists with their submachine guns, you're out of Prague and
into Generic City.
Filmed by Darius A. Wolski in Europe's prettiest city and also
the world's most exciting one--and directed by Joel Schumacher
under the production stamp of Jerry "12.5 billion dollars"
Bruckheimer-- "Bad Company" opens in the Czech Republic
where Kevin Pope (Chris Rock in a double role) gets
assassinated while saving the life of Agent Gaylord Oakes
(Anthony Hopkins) during a CIA sting operation involving the
purchase of a suitcase-enclosed nuclear bomb from a Russian
mafia lieutenant (Peter Stormare). To conceal Pope's death the
CIA brings his twin brother, Jake, into the fold, promising
him enough money to allow him to marry his sweetheart, Julie
(Kerry Washington).
The plot's conceit is that while the $20 million offered by
American would-be terrorists cannot be matched by militant
groups in other parts of the world, particularly the Balkans, the
Yugoslavs must steal the bomb while getting rid of both the
Americans and the Russians. (This is in a way similar to the plot
of "The Sum of All Fears" which focuses on how a neo-Nazi
group, hating both the Russians and the Americans, work to
provoke a nuclear war between those two major powers.) The
story itself offers no surprises, replete with a kidnaping and a
little romance, though "Bad Company" is practically an art house
indie when compared with the far more explosive ventures of
Mr. Bruckheimer ("Armageddon," "Blackhawk Down").
Given the nature of the film as a comic thriller, director Joel
Schumacher whose ability to amuse an audience with flat-out
hilarity is best exemplified by his penning of "Car Wash" might
have spent more time on the Pygmalion aspect of the tale.
When we first meet the streetwise Jake, he's making hash of
opponents in speed chess while simultaneously scalping tickets
to sporting events on his cell phone. The CIA must make a man
of culture and wealth from this raw material in order to pass him
off as his unfortunate twin brother, giving him a knowledge of
classical music to replace his love of hip hop and an
appreciation of fine wine to substitute for his affinity for gulping
Chateau Lafitte as though it came from a fraternity keg party.
Shaved, coiffed and acculturated, Jake is given the names of
the people he will meet at Prague's finest hotel.
Poking fun of a violent movie style by teaming actors like
Jackie Chan with Chris Tucker is one way of subverting the
genre. Pairing a serious performer like Anthony Hopkins with a
comic partner is a better one. Schumacher puts us in good
company for a while, only to run out of steam when Rock relies
more on his signature wide-eyed surprise than on the Shavian
wit that could have made this an impressive piece of work.
Copyright © 2002 Harvey Karten
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