Shadows on the Wall | Bad Company

Bad Company

R E V I E W B Y R I C H C L I N E

You've seen this film a hundred times--it's another buddy-cop comedy-thriller, perhaps a rough first draft for the next Die Hard or Lethal Weapon franchise, adapted to a different pair of actors. Fortunately, the cast and visual style are just about good enough to make you think there's a shred of originality here. The unlikely pairing here is Oakes and Hayes (Hopkins and Rock), thrown together when Oakes' partner, Hayes' CIA agent twin, is killed in the middle of tense negotiations for a rogue nuclear bomb. So Hayes must learn CIA protocol in a week, stand in for his brother at the next meeting with the thugs (Stormare and Marsh) and of course try to keep control over his fast-talking wit.

The pairing works because Hopkins keeps a dry level of humour throughout the film that balances nicely with Rock's in-your-face routine. The plot is just tricky enough to keep us interested, even if there's never even a remote hint of suspense because we know exactly what will happen in every set piece, and in the overall story as well. (When will the girlfriend get kidnapped? Oh, there she goes!) Schumacher restrains his normally pushy directoral style just enough to service the story adequately; the imagery is at least fresh-looking, which isn't easy when the plot is this stale. The energetic hijinks and throwaway humour is just enough to make us forget the outside world for about two hours. Then once outside, we completely forget that this film ever existed. Ah well.

themes, violence, language 13.Jun.02

dir Joel Schumacher
scr Jason Richman, Michael Browning
with Anthony Hopkins, Chris Rock, Gabriel Macht, Peter Stormare, Brooke Smith, Daniel Sunjata, Kerry Washington, John Slattery, Matthew Marsh, Dragan Micanovic, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Deborah Rush
release US 7.Jun.02; UK 12.Jul.02
Touchstone
02/US 1h56

Odd couple. Comedy cop team Hopkins and Rock just try to get the job done.

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

"I read that this movie is a bit too silly for Hopkins and a bit too serious for Rock. After seeing it, I really want to disagree - this movie allows Hopkins to show a lighter side of himself, and Rock was not really THAT serious through most of the movie. I felt the chemistry between the two onscreen worked, and thought that Hopkins seemed to be having a bit of fun with his part. It was fun watching the movie, even when you knew what was coming. I will say the end was totally clichéd to death - the type of scene we have seen how many times when a bomb needs to be de-activated. But I will still say this was a fun movie to see, and I will watch it again when it comes on cable." --Laurie T, Minneapolis 11.Jun.02