Central Intelligence | |
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Directed by | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
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Cinematography | Barry Peterson |
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108 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $50 million |
Box office | $217 million |
Central Intelligence is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and written by Thurber, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen. The film stars Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson as two old high school friends who team up to save America after one of them joins the CIA in order to save the world from a terrorist who has an intention to sell satellite codes.
The film premiered in Los Angeles on June 10, 2016 and was theatrically released in the United States on June 17, 2016. Central Intelligence received mixed reviews and grossed $217 million worldwide against its $50 million budget.
In 1996, star athlete Calvin Joyner is being honored at his high school. Halfway through Calvin's speech, Trevor Olson and a group of bullies throw a naked Robbie Wierdicht, who was showering, into the hall where the assembly is taking place, embarrassing him. Only Calvin and his girlfriend, Maggie Johnson, are sympathetic towards Wierdicht.
Twenty years later, Calvin is married to Maggie and works as a forensic accountant but is dissatisfied with his career. Maggie suggests they see a therapist to salvage their deteriorating marriage. At work, Calvin receives a friend request on Facebook from a man named Bob Stone, who reveals that he is Wierdicht and requests that they meet. Calvin is shocked to see that Wierdicht has transformed into a muscular, confident man. Stone asks Calvin to review a few accounting records. Calvin deciphers the records as multi-million dollar transactions from an auction, with the final payment set to be made the following day. Stone avoids Calvin's questions and spends the night on his couch.
The next morning, a group of CIA agents led by Pamela Harris arrive at Calvin's house in search of Stone, who escapes. Harris tells Joyner that Stone is a dangerous rogue agent who intends to sell satellite codes to the highest bidder. Soon after, Stone abducts Calvin and explains that he is trying to stop a criminal known as the Black Badger from selling the codes but needs Calvin's skills to find the coordinates of the deal's location. After an attack by a bounty hunter, Calvin flees and calls Maggie, telling her to meet him at the marriage counselor's office. Harris intercepts him and tells him that Stone murdered his partner Phil Stanton and is the Black Badger himself. She warns him to refrain from telling Maggie and gives him a device to alert them to Stone's location. Calvin then arrives for marriage counseling, where he finds Stone posing as the counselor.