Kevin Hart is known for playing slightly manic, OTT, mainly hilarious characters; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a solid action star. But in Central Intelligence, they flip the expected, with Hart in the straight man role, and Johnson as the funny guy.
In high school, Robbie (Johnson) was an overweight nerd, and constantly bullied. He reached rock bottom the day bullies dragged him, naked, out of the shower, and into the hall where the entire school was listening to the most popular student, Calvin (Hart), give a speech. But while the rest of the student body screamed with laughter, Calvin lent Robbie his jacket to cover up.
Fast-forward 20 years, and Calvin is a bored accountant. But when he accepts a Facebook friend request from “Bob Stone”, his life is thrown into overdrive.
“Bob” is actually Robbie, who is now a CIA agent in need of Calvin’s accounting skills so he can stop terrorists from getting America’s secret satellite codes. Bob has been accused of going rogue, and taking the codes himself, dragging a reluctant Calvin into the drama.
As the pair try to outrun baddies, they learn about friendship, each other’s insecurities, and themselves.
The movie doesn’t try to be deep or clever; it’s a guffaw-out-loud bromance-action-spy-comedy, with some old-school slapstick, and plenty of opportunities for The Rock to show off his gym-honed body – something the world could always use more of.
Contains some adult language