The world of stand up comedy is a strange one. It's always a little weird who gets mega-famous and who is just a recognizable face, but no so much a name. I've always thought that back when Dane Cook was the biggest stand up comedian of all time that a guy like Greg Giraldo (RIP) was much funnier. Yet, the world knew Dane Cook and would never be able to look at Giraldo and name him. We've had our Original Kings of Comedy and our Blue Collar Comedy tours (the former being much funnier), we've had Louis CK become a major presence in the stand up community-- only after twenty plus years of being nearly unknown, etc. Kevin Hart is one that confuses me. I don't think he's funny. At all. I've tried to give his stand up a chance on more than one occasion, but his punchlines don't ever land with me-- most of the time because I can guess what they're going to be. He's not a great storyteller and an even worse improviser. The jokes he tells, if told by an unknown, at a shitty open mic in L.A. wouldn't garner a single laugh because there's nothing particularly clever about them. Yes, I am white and there are certain themes in a lot of black comic's routines that just don't strike home for me, but that doesn't meant I don't think they're funny. Dave Chappelle, Bernie Mac, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Aries Spears, JB Smooth... are all brilliant. Hell, Chris Rock, to me, is one of the smartest and funniest stand ups of my generation. But, I don't like Kevin Hart. He's right up there with Katt Williams and Martin Lawrence for me in that I don't understand how they achieved super-ultra-mega stardom. Lawrence has always been a better comedic actor, than stand up and Katt Williams doesn't deserve any audience anywhere. Kevin Hart's stand up translates exactly into his film roles because most of them allow him to improvise and it makes every role he's almost always done into the same one-- not funny. Central Intelligence is no different.
I had high expectations entering into the film. Though I don't like Kevin Hart and generally dislike most of his films, I liked the idea of him playing "the straight man" in the film next to a weird softie-yet-badass Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I figured because Hart always played the arrogant loud mouth that a regular Joe out of his element would be a nice change of pace. However, he's still Kevin Hart. And while most of his "comedy" didn't land with me (or particularly with the other members of the theater I was in), he still garnered a few laughs. He stars as Calvin "The Golden Jet" Joyner, most popular kid in high school turned normal schlub in real life. He meets up after twenty years with Bob Stone (The Rock), a rotund high schooler humiliated at a pep rally turned beefcake CIA agent. During Bob's humiliating moment, Calvin took pity on him and handed him a jacket to cover his naked body. This act of kindness is something Bob never forgot, considering Calvin his best friend-- even though the two haven't spoken in nearly two decades. Bob, inadvertantly, and on purpose, involves Calvin on stopping an evil international plot to steal nuclear codes. Thus, this leads us to the set up of our typical action comedy.
Looking over the fact that the behavior of Bob is borderline psychotic and very stalker-like, he's a teddy bear. And The Rock is incredibly charming. He's a badass CIA agent with a heart of gold who would do anything for his friend due to the kindness that was shown to him. Calvin, wanting nothing to do with the terrorist stoppage, fights to get away from Bob every step of the way. There are genuine moments of great chemistry between the two of them and neither are that annoying of characters, but it's just not that funny. There are comical situations that garner chuckles here and there, but nothing is that over-the-top funny. There is also nothing that over-the-top crazy when it comes to the action either. By trying to put a clever spin on the Lethal Weapon formula that started it all, there is neither an overwhelming amount of comedy or action in the movie, which is a little disappointing. This was obviously lower than my expectations had led me to believe the movie would've been, but had I gone in with an open mind-- it still wouldn't have been that funny.
While Hart wasn't bad, even better than just tolerable, I think his presence in the film hindered the amount of laughs it could've achieved. As stated earlier, his ability to improvise is something to be desired and he isn't able to elevate the movie above a higher plane of comedy. The Rock does his best with his character, but being the 'weird' one in the film only works if you have a perfect straight man-- think how the entire cast of Arrested Development plays off of straight-man Michael (Jason Bateman, who incidentally has a cameo in this film). So, while Hart wasn't his normal annoying Ride Along self, there isn't much by means of comedic elevation.
This is also a little disheartening due to the writer/director of the film. Rawson Marshall Thurber might not be a household name to you, but he's done a LOT in his few films in Hollywood. His breakout movie was writing and directing the hilarious Dodgeball and following that up nearly ten years later with the very funny but understated We're The Millers. He's a very good writer that comes with with very original scripts. This one felt more rushed and less developed, especially comedically, than his other pieces. I still have faith in the guy, but this one is on the lower end of the totem of what should be an even better career.
Look, I love The Rock. He's the only celebrity I follow on Instagram because he's won me over that much (okay, I follow Arnold too-- shut up). He's great in this movie and his range as both an action star and a budding comedic actor has risen, but working opposite Kevin Hart did him and the film no extra favors. It's not an awful movie. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a bad movie. It's a it's-too-hot-to-do-anything-let's-just-see-what's-new-on-HBOgo type of movie. You're never going to regret seeing it and when it's over you're not going to hate it, but you probably won't remember it much longer after it's done. It's like finding a dollar in the couch. You're not mad that you found it, but the amount of things you can buy with that dollar is less than something to shout about.
C+
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