BAD COMPANY (2002) ** Whoever thought that pairing Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock was a good idea gets points for guts, originality, and insight. That someone is Joel Schumacher, who knows more than a little bit about how diverse forces can complement each other. The film does suffer a little bit from its diverse poles of suspense and slapstick, but neither aspect is written all that well that much seems lost. Prague is an inspired choice of locale for a CIA/ex-KGB showdown, and I'd swear that in 1970 my family stayed in something almost exactly like Rock's hotel room for $5/night. It was so cool that my mom and I didn't even want to leave the room! Though the leads are good and the direction impressive, there's not all that much to it, and it goes on for about twice as long as it needs to. With the exception of Rock's bit about Dr. Dre, not much memorably funny happens, and no new insight is shown on the shadowy netherworlds of international champions league spies. Worst of all they feel the need to throw in a love interest that doesn't make much sense, and is anything but compelling in any event. Dragan Micanovic, Peter Stormare, and Marek Vasut give great gangstah attitude, and would be tremendous pitted against a gang of Transylvanian vampires in a metaphoric sequel about how old meets new in Eastern Europe.
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