A Massively Underrated Dwayne Johnson Thriller Is Killing It On Streaming
Dwayne Johnson and kevin Hart's buddy action comedy Central Intelligence is one of the top streamed movies on HBO Max.
By all outward appearances, Hollywood would find it tough to forge a more fun friendship than the one shared by Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Just about every interview involving both stars immediately goes viral, and they’re a boon to any talk show lucky enough to have them. Their big screen bromance began not with the Jumanji series or Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, but in the 2016 buddy action comedy Central Intelligence which is currently in the #2 spot in HBO Max’s top 10 most streamed movies.
Central Intelligence starts off with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in exactly the opposite positions you would expect them to be in. Hart’s character is a star athlete in high school while Johnson’s is bullied for his weight. In fact Hart’s Calvin Joyner is the only student who shows Johnson’s Bob Stone any kind of sympathy or kindness.
Years later, Dwayne Johnson’s Stone has become a muscle bound CIA operative and Calvin has the much more mundane job of an accountant. Still, while accounting might not sound that sexy, Stone needs Joyner’s head for numbers to help him with an assignment. Stone spends the night on Joyner’s couch and when other CIA agents come looking for Stone, Hart’s accountant ends up caught up in a lot more than he signed up for.
Dwayne Johnson has been taking a lot of heat these days in the wake of Black Adam‘s underperformance and reports that he did Henry Cavill dirty by raising his hopes about a Superman return. But the wrestler-turned-big-screen-star was having a much kinder time with the public and the critics back then. While most reviewers weren’t impressed with the writing of Central Intelligence, many praised Johnson and Hart’s performances and their unexpected comedic chemistry.
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart weren’t the only bankable names appearing in Central Intelligence. Amy Ryan (The Office) played CIA Agent Pamela Harris, Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) is Bob Stone’s old partner Phil, Danielle Nicolet (The Flash) is Calvin’s wife Maggie, Jason Bateman (Ozark) plays Bob Stone’s old bully Trevor, and Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals) plays an airport security guard. The film was directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who would go on to collaborate with Johnson on Skyscraper and Red Notice.
Central Intelligence performed well at the box office, earning $217 million against a $50 million according to Box Office Mojo, paving the way for Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart to work together again on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level. More recently they both added their voices to the animated DC League of Super-Pets.
If you want to see for yourself how great Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart are together, Central Intelligence is streaming right now on HBO Max.
