Sum of All Fears Meets Undercover Brother in Bad Company
In the television ads for Bad Company Anthony Hopkins says, in reference to his co-star: "This is going to be a disaster." It's not clear if he means Chris Rock's character in the film (who is trying to impersonate a CIA agent), or Chris Rock's acting in the film. It's one of those non-intended double-meanings that shows there really can be truth in advertising.
The real disaster is Rock's acting. In the opening scene of the movie, Rock plays a (supposedly) intelligent, Harvard Graduate CIA agent who is undercover, negotiating the sale of a nuclear weapon with some arms dealers. He, along with his partner Gaylord Oakes (Anthony Hopkins), must get a hold of this weapon and discover its disarming codes before rival buyers have a chance to purchase the weapon.
Rock tries nothing more than to not be "black" in this scene—and he fails miserably. It is almost as painful as was watching Keanu Reeves trying to speak without his surfer accent in A Walk in the Clouds.
Luckily this scene doesn't last too long, and Rock's character is quickly killed in a shootout with the rival buyers.
Oakes and his CIA team now have only one way to complete their mission. Because the arms dealers do not know Rock's character has been killed, and because he has an identical twin brother, the CIA decides to approach the twin, Jake Hayes (also Chris Rock) and ask him to sit in and play the part.
The CIA agrees to pay Hayes $50,000 to assume his brother's identity and help Hopkins and his team carry out their mission and save the world from nuclear destruction.
Hayes is a vulgar, gambler-in-the-the-park ticket scalper who is about to be dumped by his girlfriend. The reason for the girlfriend's role in the film is as well hidden as Rock's ebonic inflections in his role as a sophisticated a CIA agent; the scenes dramatizing their break-up are drawn-out in an obvious attempt to get you to care about the girl so you'll root for her later when she's kidnapped by the bad guys.
Hayes' mouth is a race joke jukebox. Every other line he delivers has black oppression at its core (a very different use of race humor than the recent Undercover Brother). The jokes are not too funny. What's particularly bad, though, is that the director (Joel Schumacher) does not know when to tell jokes and when to build suspense. In the middle of several critical action sequences, Rock will yell out some asinine racist comment or stereotypically "black" saying that's supposed to be funny, but it only undercuts the thrill and suspense of the moment.
Gaylord Oakes is a lonely agent who has detached himself from the world. His job is everything, and he's about to put it, his life and the lives of countless others in the hands of this buffoon, Hayes. He has eight days to train Hayes to play the sophisticated Harvard Graduate.
The movie is not a total stinker. Some of the training scenes between Hopkins and Rock are funny, despite the absurdity of it all.
The action sequences are well done, too. For example, there's an involved car chase that takes place in what looks like a cornfield. Many of the camera angles are daring, and they really put you in the moment of the action. When a car door is ripped off and Hopkins' head is pushed out the opening, the camera cuts to his point of view, and you see the plants go whishing by. You find yourself cringing as if you were trying to pull your own head back into the car.
Sum of all Fears meets Undercover Brother is how I would summarize Bad Company. Echoing Sum is nothing to boast about, and the comedy is not nearly as funny as Brother. Do yourself a favor and see Brother instead, or rent Rush Hour or Rush Hour 2 to see what a proper mix of action and comedy look like.
The real disaster is Rock's acting. In the opening scene of the movie, Rock plays a (supposedly) intelligent, Harvard Graduate CIA agent who is undercover, negotiating the sale of a nuclear weapon with some arms dealers. He, along with his partner Gaylord Oakes (Anthony Hopkins), must get a hold of this weapon and discover its disarming codes before rival buyers have a chance to purchase the weapon.
Rock tries nothing more than to not be "black" in this scene—and he fails miserably. It is almost as painful as was watching Keanu Reeves trying to speak without his surfer accent in A Walk in the Clouds.
Luckily this scene doesn't last too long, and Rock's character is quickly killed in a shootout with the rival buyers.
Oakes and his CIA team now have only one way to complete their mission. Because the arms dealers do not know Rock's character has been killed, and because he has an identical twin brother, the CIA decides to approach the twin, Jake Hayes (also Chris Rock) and ask him to sit in and play the part.
The CIA agrees to pay Hayes $50,000 to assume his brother's identity and help Hopkins and his team carry out their mission and save the world from nuclear destruction.
Hayes is a vulgar, gambler-in-the-the-park ticket scalper who is about to be dumped by his girlfriend. The reason for the girlfriend's role in the film is as well hidden as Rock's ebonic inflections in his role as a sophisticated a CIA agent; the scenes dramatizing their break-up are drawn-out in an obvious attempt to get you to care about the girl so you'll root for her later when she's kidnapped by the bad guys.
Hayes' mouth is a race joke jukebox. Every other line he delivers has black oppression at its core (a very different use of race humor than the recent Undercover Brother). The jokes are not too funny. What's particularly bad, though, is that the director (Joel Schumacher) does not know when to tell jokes and when to build suspense. In the middle of several critical action sequences, Rock will yell out some asinine racist comment or stereotypically "black" saying that's supposed to be funny, but it only undercuts the thrill and suspense of the moment.
Gaylord Oakes is a lonely agent who has detached himself from the world. His job is everything, and he's about to put it, his life and the lives of countless others in the hands of this buffoon, Hayes. He has eight days to train Hayes to play the sophisticated Harvard Graduate.
The movie is not a total stinker. Some of the training scenes between Hopkins and Rock are funny, despite the absurdity of it all.
The action sequences are well done, too. For example, there's an involved car chase that takes place in what looks like a cornfield. Many of the camera angles are daring, and they really put you in the moment of the action. When a car door is ripped off and Hopkins' head is pushed out the opening, the camera cuts to his point of view, and you see the plants go whishing by. You find yourself cringing as if you were trying to pull your own head back into the car.
Sum of all Fears meets Undercover Brother is how I would summarize Bad Company. Echoing Sum is nothing to boast about, and the comedy is not nearly as funny as Brother. Do yourself a favor and see Brother instead, or rent Rush Hour or Rush Hour 2 to see what a proper mix of action and comedy look like.
