Central Intelligence

If you haven't done so yet, do yourself a favor and check out the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on O.J. Simpson. It's nothing like the cheesy Hollywood version of the story that came out on AMC or whatever with John Ravolta and Chill Factor's Cuba Gooding Jr.; this is actually brilliant filmmaking that made me feel sad, joyous, ashamed, and pessimistic all at the same time. It's such a surreal story that I still can't believe it's true even though I actually lived through it as it was happening. But after 7 1/2 hours of this depressing and in depth look into our society and having reoccurring nightmares of O.J. popping out of my closet and killing me, I thought it was high time I saw some Black people who were actually on the right side of the law! So I broke down and saw the new Duane Johnson and Kevin Hart action comedy called Central Intelligence.

As I walked into the theater I thought to myself not only was O.J. killing me in my dreams but he was also killing my dreams of their ever being another good movie where black people were the main characters. And as I saw the previews for the new Tyler Perry movie where Madea takes on zombies, I literally almost stood up in the theater and yelled "Take me now O.J.! You win! I give up!" His heinous actions indirectly forced me into seeing a film I swore I'd never pay money to see.

But when it was all said and done, I found myself looking up the address to the Nevada State Penitentiary so I could write him a nice thank you note and possibly send him a lovely fruit basket to boot. This movie is far from original as it follows the buddy cop film formula to a tee! But what helps it stand out is the unexpected and amazing chemistry the Rock and Hart have on screen.

We've all seen the hysterical clip of a fat Rock sing En Vogue's Never Gonna Get It in the shower, and if you were being honest with yourself, you just had to think that it was possibly going to be film's only funny moment given the recent trend of comedy failures these days. But I'm pleased to say that it wasn't. The Rock was clearly a dork in high school and Hart was the cool kid that everyone loved. Their two paths crossed one day after Hart was the only one to step up and show a random act of kindness to the helpless and overly embarrassed Rock after he was thrown into the middle of a high school assembly completely naked. An act that he apparently has never forgotten as he decides to reach out to Hart just before their 20 year reunion to invite him out for a drink so that he can properly thank him.

Well after 20 years the Rock not only lost a ton of weight but he looks like a real life Hercules with his muscular and intimidating body frame. But the funny thing is, he's still kind of a dork as he wears unicorn shirts, jorts, and fanny packs and still says things like "What whaaaaat!" The director does an excellent job of playing up the size difference between the two actors to gain cheap laughs and the Rock's performance is genuine enough to where you kind of believe that he actually does still find those awful "wassuuuup" commercials to be funny.

The way Hart and the Rock feed off of one another is reminiscent of Jackie Chan's and Chris Tucker's relationship in Rush Hour as it seems like the Rock is from another country or even another planet at times with his cagy CIA skills. And while the story follows the lead of its predecessors, there's still enough double crosses and twists and turns in it to keep you interested.

So all in all I'd have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself while watching this film and I must give it a rating of pretty FRESH! And here's to hoping that O.J. gets an early release fairly soon just so he can go out and mess up again with the hopes that his misfortune will once again inspire me to see a low budget comedy film.