Denzel Washington (left) and Mark Wahlberg make a tired buddy-cop concept extremely watchable in "2 Guns." Courtesy
They're both law enforcement officers, but neither one knows that fact about the other. They're supposed to be the good guys, but there they are robbing a bank. Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg are "2 Guns."
With an old-school vibe of crime drama meets crooked comedy, I couldn't help while watching this enjoyably goofy buddy-cop shoot-em-up but to imagine the old-school trailer audio to accompany it.
"In a world where two men should be partners in cleaning up the border drug trade, they instead find themselves partners in crime. But they just robbed the wrong guy. Now, set up, double-crossed and left for dead, their only chance to get out alive is to trust each other - and their two guns!"
Washington and Wahlberg have the kind of chemistry together that studio heads dream of when someone proposes a buddy-cop movie. That relationship and a couple of creepy-good supporting performances make this tired concept - "Lethal Weapon" or "48 Hrs." updated for 30 years later - extremely watchable.
It doesn't mean that you won't see most of the cliches coming or guess most of the who-betrays-who scenarios because you will. Washington and Wahlberg are good, but they don't break new ground.
Don't go for surprises in this "We thought we were stealing money for the good guys" situation. Go for the banter.
As we first meet these fellows, eating in a diner and plotting their heist at a bank across the street, there's a bit of symbolism that pretty well sums up the movie.
Wahlberg's character, Stig, orders breakfast, while also chastising Washington's character, Bobby, about his order as if the two were an old married couple. Wahlberg is as subtle as a ham sandwich in charming the waitress, closing it out with a wink.
A wink and a smile is the way to enjoy "2 Guns." It's a lark.
When we learn that Bobby is an undercover DEA agent setting up a major drug bust, it appears that his cocaine-buying pal Stig is just collateral damage. When we find that Stig is an undercover naval intelligence officer in a subplot that doesn't quite make sense, the audience can only wink at one another as they learn that each was supposed to eliminate the other guy.
Don't think too hard about it, we're left telling ourselves, or we'll miss some of the funny bits between the two stars.
Think of Washington's superior "Safe House" from last year, and you'll recognize some of the tough-guy violence in this film by Baltasar Kormakur (Wahlberg's "Contraband"). Mix that with another 1980s flick also superior in every way, "Midnight Run," and you have a feel for what "2 Guns" wants to be.
The picture is best at capturing some of those buddy-cop memories in its combination of the two stars with some of the bad-guy supporting characters, which are just as colorful and violent.
Bill Paxton, as the representative for the people from whom $40 million has been stolen, is pure, impatient evil with his thumbtack torture (ouch!) and penchant for "Russian roulette." Oklahoma's James Marsden gives the Navy a bad name as a backstabbing, overconfident weasel and Stig's superior. Edward James Olmos' Mexican drug lord looks like a wicked grandpa you don't want to mess with.
There's an over-the-top nature to each that made me think of 1980s buddy-cop baddies like Gary Busey in "Lethal Weapon." They are utterly ridiculous most of the time, and that's what makes you remember them.
Watching "2 Guns" makes you feel like you've seen this movie before, but when Washington and Wahlberg are this natural together, you don't mind catching an encore.
‘2 GUNS’
Cast: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Paxton, Paula Patton, Edward James Olmos, James Marsden
Theaters: Cinemark Tulsa, Promenade, Cinemark Broken Arrow, Starworld 20, RiverWalk, Owasso, Eton Square, Sand Springs
Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Rated: R (violence throughout, language and brief nudity)
Quality:
(on a scale of zero to four stars)
Michael Smith 918-581-8479
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Crime-comedy infusion
‘2 GUNS’
Cast: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Paxton, Paula Patton, Edward James Olmos, James Marsden
Theaters: Cinemark Tulsa, Promenade, Cinemark Broken Arrow, Starworld 20, RiverWalk, Owasso, Eton Square, Sand Springs
Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Rated: R (violence throughout, language and brief nudity)
Quality:
(on a scale of zero to four stars)
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