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"BAD COMPANY"
(2002) (Anthony Hopkins, Chris Rock) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild Moderate Extreme *Moderate Extreme
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Mild Minor Heavy *None Heavy
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Mild Minor Moderate Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Action/Drama: After being contacted by a desperate CIA agent, a streetwise hustler sets out to impersonate his long lost, but now dead twin brother to help the agency complete an undercover deal of buying a nuclear bomb off the black market.
PLOT:
Gaylord Oakes (ANTHONY HOPKINS) and Kevin Pope (CHRIS ROCK) are undercover CIA agents working out of Prague where they're attempting to complete the purchase of a nuclear suitcase bomb from Russian black market dealer Adrik Vas (PETER STORMARE). Working under the guise of antiquities dealer Michael Turner, Pope has set up the deal, but is murdered during a shootout with other parties who are desirous of the bomb.

Realizing they need Kevin to finish the deal, CIA director Roland Yates (JOHN SLATTERY) orders Oakes and his associates, including agents Seale (GABRIEL MACHT), Swanson (BROOKE SMITH) and Carew (DANIEL SUNJATA), to pick up New York ticket scalper Jake Hayes (CHRIS ROCK) and see if he'll help.

It turns out he's Kevin's long lost twin brother who's been scraping by, trying to make ends meet and keep his girlfriend, Julie (KERRY WASHINGTON), from moving across the country and taking a job with her ex-boyfriend.

After some negotiations, Jake agrees to the deal, but isn't told the specifics or related dangers of what he'll have to do or who he'll be dealing with, including heavies Dragan Adjanic (MATTHEW MARSH) and Michelle Petrov (DRAGAN MICANOVIC), or Kevin's beautiful ex-girlfriend, Nicole (GARCELLE BEAUVAIS-NILON), who wants to get back together with him.

With only nine days to learn how to mimic his dead brother's mannerisms and knowledge in order to fool Vas and the others, Jake sets out for Prague with Oakes and his crew, unaware of the potentially deadly ramifications should they fail in their quest.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're fans of someone in the cast, films by director Joel Schumacher (2 "Batman" films, "Falling Down") or producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Pearl Harbor," "Armageddon"), they just might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For intense sequences of violent action, some sensuality and language.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • ANTHONY HOPKINS plays a no-nonsense CIA agent who kills various villains but is concerned about Jake's safety and his chances of success in portraying his dead twin brother.
  • CHRIS ROCK plays a street hustler who uses profanity, has a sarcastic attitude and agrees to help the CIA in order to make enough money so that his girlfriend might reconsider moving away. He also briefly plays that character's twin brother, a resourceful CIA operative.
  • PETER STORMARE plays a ruthless villain who's selling a nuclear bomb.
  • MATTHEW MARSH plays another ruthless terrorist.
  • GABRIEL MACHT, BROOKE SMITH and DANIEL SUNJATA play CIA agents helping Oakes.
  • KERRY WASHINGTON plays Jake's girlfriend who's planning to move across the country to start her life anew.
  • GARCELLE BEAUVAIS-NILON plays Kevin's ex-girlfriend who wants to get back together with him and acts in a sexual manner to do so.
  • JOHN SLATTERY plays the head of the CIA who wants to get the job done and views certain people as expendable pawns in his quest.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a brief summary of the content found in this drama/action flick that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Some non-explicit, sexually related comments are present, the protagonist looks at a nude woman in his shower (we see the shape of her body through the frosted glass and later briefly see her in her skimpy bra and panties as she gets dressed) and she later caresses his crotch with her foot in a restaurant.

    Violence consists of various people being shot and wounded or killed, but most of those moments are relatively bloodless (although there is some present). Other non-lethal fighting is also present. Those scenes and others, including threatening a man's eye with a scalpel and another where the same man tries to stop a nuclear bomb from exploding in New York City might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some viewers.

    Meanwhile, various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some characters drink and/or smoke. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Some people have drinks in a club.
  • An agent shows Jake how to drink/taste wine (Jake downs his in one gulp), and we then see them doing the same with cognac.
  • After a neighbor tells Jake (posing as his brother) how much she paid for an antique vase, he replies, "Good Lord. What are you going to put in it? Cocaine?"
  • We hear that Vas is head of the Russian mafia and deals in drugs among other things.
  • Oakes says he'd like a stiff drink and we then see him pouring one.
  • People have wine with dinner.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • Some viewers might not like the literal translations of what Jake says when trying to learn a foreign language, including "I haven't had my period in three months" and "Where's the hospital? I have a vaginal infection."
  • We hear Jake urinating.
  • We see a photo of a dead man with some blood from his mouth and some around his head.
  • We see a split second photo of some victim (but couldn't tell what it was although Jake reacts in shock to seeing it).
  • A person has a little bit of blood on the side of the head.
  • Needing Jake's retina scan to get through a computer's security block, a villain threatens to cut his eye from his head with a scalpel (we see it near his eye and it apparently slices his eyelid or just above it as we see a tiny bloody cut).
  • We see some blood on the floor next to a man's shoe after he's shot there.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • The villains obviously have extreme cases of bad attitudes for killing or attempting to kill various people in their effort to obtain and use a small nuclear bomb.
  • Yates comes off as non-caring toward the ramifications of having to get the job done (e.g. viewing various people, including Jake, as expendable).
  • Julie's sister Pam has a bad attitude toward Jake and his relationship with Julie.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers (mostly younger ones and/or those with low tolerance levels for standard action-suspense scenes), as might the aspect of New York City being in danger again by terrorists who attempt to detonate a small nuclear bomb there.
  • Some bad guys drive up behind Pope (who's on foot) at night on a street in Prague and then chase after him. A gun battle then breaks out between the villains and CIA agents.
  • We see a bad guy making his way into a building to make a hit on Jake (posing as his brother). After a brief, violent encounter, Jake then climbs out the window onto a very small ledge many stories above the street and shuffles away. A chase scene then ensues (with Jake trying to flee and agents chasing after the villain). The agents finally corner the man on a roof, but he then purposefully jumps off and crashes, to his presumed death, onto a structure on another roof below them.
  • Various agents train their weapons from a distance on a meeting between Jake and Oakes and various villains.
  • More villains exchange gunfire with agents while Jake and Nicole try to hide in a hotel's laundry chute (not aware that they're just above its high vertical fall). Jake's cell phone then goes off, causing one bad guy to come closer to them, until he removes the wall grate and prepares to shoot them. Oakes shoots that man instead, causing him to fall into the chute and knock Jake and Nicole down the vertical drop with him. Meanwhile, an agent at the bottom of the chute races to get the laundry cart back below it before they hit the ground.
  • Needing Jake's retina scan to get through a computer's security block, a villain threatens to cut his eye from his head with a scalpel (we see it near his eye and it apparently slices his eyelid or just above it as we see a tiny bloody cut).
  • A villain holds a gun to Jake's head and is about to shoot him when Jake bluffs his way out of that occurring.
  • As a villain threatens to kill Julie during a standoff, the countdown clock on a nuclear bomb nears zero and Jake must decide what to do (comply with the villain or stop the bomb).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handguns/Machine guns/Knife/Sniper Rifles: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details.
  • Suitcase nuclear bomb: Bought and then nearly detonated.
  • We see some brief archival footage of nuclear explosions.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Where are you? - On the corner of eat sh*t and f*ck you." "Get you sh*t together," "Is this sh*t dangerous?" "Bullsh*t," "Would one of them be sh*tting in my pants?" "Sh*t hits the fan," "Kicking your ass," "Bitch" (for a Queen chess piece), "Who the hell /is that/are you?" "Punk," "Screwed (up)," "Kiss my ass," "Bitch, get in the car" and "Get in the car, bitch" (what Jake tells Oakes he should have told him followed by Oakes' reply), "Shut up," "Fine ass," "Hell, no," "Shut the hell up," "Pissed," "What the hell /are you doing/ was that?" and "Whoop his ass."
  • Jake sarcastically wonders if CIA stands for "Crackers (white people) in my ass."
  • To get Jake out of bed in the early morning, Oakes pours a pitcher of cold water on his face. Jake later retaliates by doing the same to Oakes when he walks into his room.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • An agent is suddenly shot.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A heavy amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music plays in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Various songs had lyrics that couldn't be understood, thus offering the possibility of them potentially containing objectionable lyrics.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 1 "f" word (with another possible one), 18 "s" words, 4 slang terms for breasts (variations of "t*t"), 19 asses, 12 hells, 4 damns, 1 crap, 1 S.O.B., 2 uses of "Good Lord" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "God" and "Jesus Christ" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • We hear that Vas is head of the Russian mafia and deals in prostitution among other things.
  • While describing and identifying those who abducted him during a practice kidnapping, Jake says he lifted Seale's wallet and then asks, "Why does a married man need a condom? Does your wife know?" He also says he knew it was Swanson because he felt "her t*ts" on his back.
  • As some women give Jake a pedicure and manicure, he tells others that as soon as they leave he's going to "have my ass buffed."
  • Some classic artwork shows the side of a man's bare butt.
  • An agent comments on Vas not wanting to be "screwed on the first date" but they're using the sexual reference in regards to a nonsexual event.
  • Jake returns to his hotel room to find a woman in his shower (we can see the shape of her body - and breasts -- through the frosted shower door, but no details). It turns out to be Nicole (Kevin's alter-ego's ex-girlfriend) and he then opens that door and stares in wide-eyed amazement at her nude body (we only see her bare back and she's not uncomfortable with him looking at her). She then asks for a towel and he hands her a washcloth (we then see her wrapped in a towel). Moments later, we see her in her small bra (that shows cleavage), panties and garters as she gets dressed.
  • Later, and in a restaurant, she removes her shoe and begins to caress Jake's clothed crotch under the table in a restaurant (and we see his pleasured reaction to what she's doing). We then see her nuzzling and kissing his face and neck.
  • After Oakes tells Jake that he just got his wish (by Oakes shooting and stopping a pursuing vehicle), Jake quips that his wish was to see Jennifer Lopez naked.
  • SMOKING
  • Various villains smoke, while an agent smokes a cigar several times (see below).
  • While being taught about how to act like his brother, Jake watches an agent smoke a cigar and we then see Jake rolling his own.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Jake learns that he has a dead brother (that he never knew about) and we hear that their mother died during childbirth.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • The likelihood of someone smuggling a nuclear suitcase bomb into the U.S. and attempting to detonate it.
  • The plausibility of the basic story here (whether the CIA would use a non-trained person in such a situation).
  • The work of CIA agents.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Villains and agents fire at each other with machine guns and handguns. During this, Oakes goes back to rescue Pope who throws Oakes in a car just as he (Pope) is apparently shot (we don't see the impact or wound, but do see that he's dead in the car).
  • Jake sees a bad guy (with a knife) coming at him in the bathroom, and so slams the shower door into the bad guy, which causes it to shatter. He then hits the man over the head with a large bottle of some sort and tries to escape. During the ensuing chase, the villain pushes a person out of the way in a stairwell. The agents finally corner the man on a roof, but he then purposefully jumps off and crashes onto a structure on another roof below them (and apparently dies).
  • Jake's foster mother hits him with her umbrella (when she thinks he's done something wrong).
  • From a distance and on a surveillance camera, we see someone hitting another person on the head.
  • Agents and bad guys exchange gunfire with Oakes shooting and injuring/killing one (he then walks by and shoots the man again, but we don't see the impact or body). More gunfire ensues and several more villains are shot and wounded or killed (with no blood or gore).
  • Oakes shoots and wounds/kills a villain, while an agent shoots another bad guy dead.
  • A villain shoots another villain in the back of the head (no blood/gore and we don't see the impact).
  • A villain prepares to shoot an agent who then spins around, clocks the villain on the head with a laptop computer and knocks his gun aside. The villain then grabs him by the throat with the agent pushing his fingers into the man's eyes (which prompts the villain to punch the agent). This large villain then throws the agent around with more punching. Another villain approaches and the agent knocks the first into that man, with a gunshot then wounding one of the villains. The agent then escapes on a motorcycle with a villain shooting at him (but missing).
  • Various villains shoot at others with machine guns and handguns with several people being hit and Oakes and Jake trying to avoid that occurring to them. As this scene and the above one are inter-cut, Oakes shoots and wounds/injures another villain and others then shoot at them as they escape in a car.
  • During the ensuing car chase, Oakes shoots out the window at the pursuing car. He then hits the driver of a van that then flips over several times.
  • A vehicle drives up and rams another from behind, and machine gun fire then riddles the fleeing car (but the occupants aren't hit). The fleeing car then careens through the woods and smashes nose first into a tree. A villain then shoots at them and the fleeing car purposefully drives into that man who then hangs onto the hood as they crash against the side of another vehicle. Oakes then hangs out the window and punches that man. That man then yanks the side-view mirror from the car and smashes through the sunroof and struggles with Oakes and Jake who punch and elbow this man. Oakes and the villain end up in the backseat where they fight some more, resulting in the villain holding Oakes' head out the open door (another vehicle then races up and rips off that door, but Oakes gets back inside just in time). More punching follows with Oakes holding that man's head down toward the passing grass and eventually knocking the man from the moving car.
  • Men fire machine guns at a car and then use a car to push Jake and Oakes' car backwards and then down a steep hill (where it crashes, but the two occupants are okay).
  • A villain slams a hotel worker's head onto a table, rendering that man unconscious.
  • Bad guys shock Jake with some sort of handheld zapping device.
  • Needing Jake's retina scan to get through a computer's security block, a villain threatens to cut his eye from his head with a scalpel (we see it near his eye and it apparently slices his eyelid or just above it as we see a tiny bloody cut).
  • Agents ram a van with their vehicle and a villain shoots at them with a machine gun (but is shot dead along with another villain).
  • A villain holds a gun to Jake's head and is about to shoot him when Jake bluffs his way out of that occurring.
  • Agents shoot and kill another villain.
  • A villain shoots a security guard dead and another gun battle breaks out between the villains and agents (with several villains being shot dead and Oakes apparently being shot in the foot - we see a hole in his shoe and some blood).
  • An agent is shot (and presumably killed, although we later see he's alive but wounded).
  • A villain threatens to kill Julie.
  • Oakes and Jake repeatedly shoot a villain.



  • Reviewed May 30, 2002 / Posted June 7, 2002

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