Prague, the Czech Republic. After a CIA operation to buy a nuclear suitcase bomb goes badly wrong, high-flying clandestine operative Kevin Pope (Rock) is killed in a shootout. With just days to go before the sale, veteran CIA agent Gaylord Oakes (Hopkins) must find a replacement who looks, acts and talks like Pope.
As luck would have it, Pope has a twin brother, Jake Hayes (Rock again). Only problem is that Hayes isn't exactly agency material. In fact, he's the kind of streetwise hustler who thinks CIA stands for "crack is in my ass".
With its high concept premise - shove two completely different actors together and see what happens - this latest movie from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joel Schumacher delivers exactly what it promises.
Motormouth Rock gets to show off his trademark comedy skills (every ten minutes or so, the script pauses to give him a chance to switch into stand-up-routine mode), while Hopkins plays the sceptical CIA man with all the seriousness of Shakespearean tragedy.
With little chemistry between the two stars, a ridiculous plot about a suitcase bomb in New York's Grand Central Station, and a bunch of villains who are about as nasty as a group of school bullies, "Bad Company" really struggles to get much mileage out of the material.
While Rock gives his usual sub-Eddie Murphy routine, Hopkins looks like he thought he was signing up for a different movie.
We know Sir Anthony can play intellectual cannibals to perfection, but CIA agents seem to be out of his grasp... especially when the role involves running through the streets of New York in search of a bomb.
Looking like some portly reject from The Sweeney, you can't help wishing that the fate of the free world laid on the shoulders of a much younger body.
Bad Company (2002)
