This article is about the 2002 film. For other films of the same title, see
Bad Company (film).
Bad Company is a 2002 action-comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock.
Plot
When a mission to retrieve a stolen suitcase bomb goes bad, CIA agent Kevin Pope (Rock) is killed. Pope was working undercover as an art dealer under the name Michael Turner. The CIA, who is desperate to complete the mission discovers that Agent Pope had a twin brother, Jake Hayes (also Rock), from whom he was separated at birth. Hayes hustles chess games, scalps tickets and works at small clubs to make ends meet. Meanwhile Hayes's girlfriend, Julie (Washington) grows tired of waiting for him to grow up and decides to move to Seattle, Washington.
After the CIA successfully persuades Hayes into participating and begins to train Hayes for a mission that is to take place in Prague (Czech Republic), they are initially dismayed by his lack of refinement. Agent Oakes (Hopkins) confronts Hayes telling him he doesn't trust him. When Hayes begins paying attention, the CIA sets him up in his old apartment to test him and try to bait the men who killed his brother. Hayes is attacked, but escapes unharmed. Looking for a way out, Hayes goes to his foster mother only to be tailed by Oakes who persuades him to finish the mission.
After arriving in Prague, Hayes meets with the men selling the suitcase bomb posing as his dead brother. The seller, Adrik Vas, is an ex-KGB agent with ties to the Russian Mafia. When they return to their hotel, Hayes is greeted by his brother's ex-girlfriend Nicole. Believing that Hayes is his brother the two have dinner and return to the hotel only to be ambushed by rival buyers. Nicole figures out Hayes isn't his brother and returns to her assignment covering the Balkans for CNN.
Moving forward with the plans, Hayes and Oakes meet up with Adjanic and are able to steal the arming codes. But before they are able to close the deal, only to have Vas's men double cross him with rival buyer and terrorist. When the rival dealers, who are part of a terrorist organization, learn they can't detonate the bomb because of the missing codes, they kidnap Julie. Hayes gives himself up trying to save his girlfriend and the terrorist get the codes back and arm the bomb.
Now the race begins to find Hayes and the bomb. After interrogating one of the captured terrorists, they track the bomb to Grand Central Station. With the clock ticking, they locate the bomb and Andre who has started the countdown. Oakes rescues Hayes by killing two terrorists. As Hayes starts to enter the codes to disarm the bomb, Andre holds Julie hostage. In order to distract Andre, Hayes pretends to shoots Oakes and Oakes kills Andre. Hayes is able to disarm the bomb just prior to detonation.
At the ending of the film, Oakes comes up to Hayes and warns him that a dangerous criminal has escaped from prison and is seeking revenge upon Kevin Pope, but since Kevin is dead and Hayes was impersonating him, the criminal thinks Hayes is Kevin. Hayes begins to panic and demand that Oakes has to protect him, but Oakes starts laughing as he reveals that it was just a joke.
Cast
Reception
In the theaters, Bad Company did poorly at the box office earning only $30,160,161 million in the United States and $35,817,134 million outside the US for a worldwide total of $65,977,295.[1] The film was originally slated to be released in December 2001 but because of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the film's release was postponed given the fact the film was about a terrorist attack on New York City.[2]
The film was also generally poorly received by film critics. On film review compilation site Rotten Tomatoes, the film is given a 10% "rotten" rating, based on 132 reviews.[3] Seattle Post-Intelligencer reviewer William Arnold calls the film "wildly overproduced, inadequately motivated every step of the way and demographically targeted to please every one (and no one)."[4] Roger Ebert remarks in the Chicago Sun-Times that the film "jams too many prefabricated story elements into the running time."[5]
However, David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter noted the film as having "all the familiar Bruckheimer elements, and Schumacher does probably as good a job as anyone at bringing off the Hopkins/Rock collision of acting styles and onscreen personas."[6]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop, alternative and R&B music was released on June 4, 2002 by Hollywood Records. It peaked at number 98 on the Billboard 200 and number 11 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[7]
References
- ^ a b c "Bad Company (2002)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=badcompany.htm. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ Diorio, Carl; Dunkley, Cathy (September 19, 2001). "'Bad' timing means pic shuffle". Variety. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. http://www.amo.org.au/artist.asp?id=3858. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ "Bad Company (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1114548-bad_company/. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ Arnold, William (June 7, 2002). "'Bad Company' is a waste of 111 minutes". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5jNmHPfZO. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (June 7, 2002). "Bad Company Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5jNm3Ksyk. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ Hunter, David (June 5, 2002). "Bad Company Review". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1507378. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- ^ "Bad Company (Original Soundtrack) – Charts & Awards". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ajfyxqe0ldde~T3. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
External links
