Central Intelligence (2016)

After he reconnects with an awkward pal from high school through Facebook, a mild-mannered accountant is lured into the world of international espionage.

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Writers:

Ike Barinholtz (screenplay), David Stassen (screenplay)

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Danielle Nicolet

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dwayne Johnson	...	Bob Stone
Kevin Hart	...	Calvin Joyner
Amy Ryan	...	Agent Pamela Harris
Danielle Nicolet	...	Maggie
Jason Bateman	...	Trevor
Aaron Paul	...	Phil
Ryan Hansen	...	Steve
Tim Griffin	...	Agent Stan Mitchell
Timothy John Smith	...	Agent Nick Cooper
Sione Kelepi	...	Young Robbie
Dylan Boyack	...	Trevor - 17 Years Old
Thomas Kretschmann	...	The Buyer
Megan Park	...	Waitress
Slaine	...	Thugged Out
Annie Kerins	...	Lady MC

Storyline

Calvin Joyner was voted in high school the guy most likely to succeed. 20 years later he's an accountant. As his high school reunion approaches, he tries to make contact with his old schoolmates. And someone named Bob Stone contacts him. He says that he was known as Robbie Weirdicht in school. Calvin remembers that he was picked on, as a matter of fact after an extremely nasty prank he left school. They agree to meet and Calvin is surprised by how much he has changed. Bob asks Calvin to help him out. He says yes and the next thing he knows some men burst into his home. They're CIA, the one in charge is looking for Stone, she says he's a rogue agent. When they can't find Bob they leave. Later he approaches Calvin telling him, he is not a rogue agent, he's trying to find a person known as the Black Badger who is planning to sell some information that in the wrong hands can be disastrous. so he needs Calvin's help to stop him. Calvin's not sure whom he should believe.

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Plot Keywords:

profanity | f word | high school | rogue agent | accountant | 

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Taglines:

Saving the world takes a little Hart and a big Johnson

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and suggestive humor, some nudity, action violence and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA China

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Central Intelligence

Filming Locations:

Burlington, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,535,250, 19 June 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$127,440,871

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$217,196,811

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Universal Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 116 min (Unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dwayne Johnson gives three nods to Bruce Lee: yellow and black sneakers, a famous Lee pose, and a one inch punch.

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Goofs

Bob is hiding behind Calvin's office door. In the preceding shot of Calvin walking into his office, you can see through the crack of the open door and no one is behind it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Trevor - 17 Years Old: Man, I told you Robbie Wheirdicht showers here during first period.

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Crazy Credits

There are several scenes from a blooper reel shown during the closing credits, including one scene of the fire department temporarily shutting down filming for some unknown reason.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Dwayne Johnson/Jim Gaffigan/Phantogram (2016)

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Soundtracks

Wannabe
Written by Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Emma Bunton, Melanie C (as Melanie Chisholm), Geri Horner (as Geri Halliwell), Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard
Courtesy of Sybersound c/o Covered Records Inc.

User Reviews

Great Poster. So-so film.

"Saving the World Takes a Little Hart and a Big Johnson". I doubt I have ever passed a film poster before and dissolved into paroxysms of mirth, so this film at least wins one award with me.

The story is pretty inconsequential, and used as a framework to build set pieces around. Kevin Hart ("Ride Along") plays Calvin Joyner – the life and soul of his high school and the guy voted 'Most likely to succeed'. He's also a nice guy, sensitively covering the modesty of overweight loser Robbie Wheirdicht (a good Dwayne Johnson lookalike actually played by internet wedding-dance sensation Sione Kelepi) after he's been ridiculed by bullies in front of the whole school.

But sometimes life doesn't go to plan and twenty year's later Calvin may have married his high school sweetheart Maggie (Danielle Nicolet) but has ended up in a low-level forensic accountancy job and not where he wants to be.

Robbie on the other hand has transformed his life and physique to become Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson), a man with a 'certain set of skills' and, as it turns out, a rogue CIA operative. Bob is on the trail of financial codes to help identify the location of the traitorous 'Black Badger' who killed his long-term partner Stanton (Aaron Paul). But the Black Badger could be anyone, and the CIA lead (Amy Ryan) suspects it might actually be Stone. With the stakes rising the inept Joyner needs to make a decision on who to trust and who to fear.

The comedy lead Kevin Hart previously impressed with "Get Hard" and raises a few laughs in this one, notably with his attempt at his signature flip twenty years later than he should have attempted it! Johnson's character is written to be just plain weird and with Johnson's limited acting range (think Arnie in "Jingle All The Way") it's a performance that is on the outlandish side of bizarre. Together the duo make for a likable pair but this is a very lightweight comedy and is generally a smile-along rather than a laugh-along. It is also uneven in tone, occasionally straying into highly un-comedic territory: a throat- ripping out scene anyone?

The director is Rawson Marshall Thurber who previously directed the better comedy "Dodgeball" and the far worse "We're the Millers". So that should set your expectations.

A fairly ho-hum comedy which might entertain you on a long plane flight but is not worth forking out much cash to rent.

(Please visit http://bob-the-movie-man.com for the graphical version of this review. Thanks.)