Bad Company (2002)

10% of critics liked it
(134 reviews)
41% of users liked it
(55,064 ratings)

Dignified Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins tries the buddy action-comedy on for size with this typically slick and bombastic offering from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Hopkins stars as Gaylord Oakes, a CIA spy attempting -- along with his partner, Kevin Pope (Chris Rock) -- to secure a suitcase-sized… More Dignified Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins tries the buddy action-comedy on for size with this typically slick and bombastic offering from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Hopkins stars as Gaylord Oakes, a CIA spy attempting -- along with his partner, Kevin Pope (Chris Rock) -- to secure a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb in Prague from a Russian black marketer (Peter Stormare). Just as the partners discover that another bidder for the device exists, they are ambushed and Pope is killed trying to protect Oakes. Desperate for the bomb's owners and their attackers to believe that Pope is still alive so that the deal can commence in ten days time, Oakes recruits his late partner's long-lost twin, ticket-scalping chess hustler Jake Hayes (also played by Rock), a small-time criminal who never knew he had a brother. Offered a sizable payday and the admiration of his student nurse girlfriend, Hayes agrees to undergo vigorous training and dangerous situations as he impersonates his brother and helps Oakes to remove the nuclear threat, but the new partners clash in every way possible, from personal discipline to musical taste. Meanwhile, the assassin of the real Kevin Pope sends another cadre of killers after the agent he believes is still alive. Bad Company co-stars Kerry Washington, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Gabriel Macht, and Matthew Marsh. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 56 min.
Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Written By: Michael Browning, Jason Richman
Genres: Action & Adventure, Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 7, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Nov 12, 2002
Studio: Touchstone Pictures

Critic Reviews

Hank Sartin, Chicago Reader
Director Joel Schumacher does a fair job of managing the chaos, but after a while you get tired of being dragged from setup to setup.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
If you've seen the trailer, you've seen almost everything good in Bad Company.
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Rock doesn't really act with the other performers; he stands next to them and buzzes in his own orbit.
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
Despite its cliché-ridden premise, Bad Company often works simply because there's so much talent on the screen.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Predictably soulless techno-tripe.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer demands the kind of formula action that leaves director Joel Schumacher no space to let characters breathe.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Nuclear-bomb-in-NYC plot leaves sour aftertaste.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Everything about has been done and seen before--even right down to the title, which the very same studio used as the moniker for a Laurence Fishburne/Ellen Barkin thriller.
Greg Maki, Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
The action fails to cause any excitement, and most of the characters are paper-thin.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
O roteiro é absurdo, a direção de Schumacher é fraca e o filme, em si, é simplesmente ridículo.
John R. McEwen, Film Quips Online
Rock is trying too hard, and Hopkins isn't trying at all.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
The funniest thing about Bad Company is that Hopkins actually agreed to star in it.
Ryan Cracknell, Apollo Guide
An easy watch, except for the annoying demeanour of its lead character.

Read all 13 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Tim S

Not a great one, but it has its moments.
Anthony L

Stupid and awful.
Leigh R

Funny.
Lady D

So much better than I expected this to be. There were some extremely funny moments coming from Chris Rock of course, but also from Anthony Hopkins at times. The story itself was unexpectably good and held me from start to finish.
Film C

very good fiolm funny exciting and action packed with guns and bombs and hitech stuff
Al S

A totally enjoyable, hard-hitting and explosive action-packed thriller. Packs plenty of kinetic thrills, great gun fights and outragious humor. Gut bustingly funny and tremendously exciting. Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins are dynamite together. Suspense-Thriller meets Action-Adventure… More
A totally enjoyable, hard-hitting and explosive action-packed thriller. Packs plenty of kinetic thrills, great gun fights and outragious humor. Gut bustingly funny and tremendously exciting. Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins are dynamite together. Suspense-Thriller meets Action-Adventure meets Buddy-Comedy. A rollar coaster ride that is so much fun you just want more. Adreniline-pumping and exhilerating.
xGary X

Anthony Hopkins is out of place and on autopilot during this by the numbers buddy thriller, but you have to ask yourself why he got involved with such inconsequential pap in the first place. At least Rock is less annoying than usual.
Emily A

It's hard to know what to make of this movie. Action-Comedy-Thriller? With Chris Rock. It is a really strange mix, but it works somehow. Never in a million years would it have occured to me to put Anthony Hopkins and Rock together, but again, they just seems to have this wicked… More
It's hard to know what to make of this movie. Action-Comedy-Thriller? With Chris Rock. It is a really strange mix, but it works somehow. Never in a million years would it have occured to me to put Anthony Hopkins and Rock together, but again, they just seems to have this wicked chemistry that just works in a way that defies logic.
Aaron N

It was like there were two bags of names. One had old veteran actors and the other had young stars. They pulled out the names and here we have Hopkins and Rock. Then they threw darts at a plot board. 1st hit: Nuke, 2nd Hit: Terrorsits, 3rd Hit: Buddy action 4th Hit: Estranged Twin… More
It was like there were two bags of names. One had old veteran actors and the other had young stars. They pulled out the names and here we have Hopkins and Rock. Then they threw darts at a plot board. 1st hit: Nuke, 2nd Hit: Terrorsits, 3rd Hit: Buddy action 4th Hit: Estranged Twin Brother 5th Hit: CIA needs a new man. Boom Bam, we've slapped a new action movie together.
Deb S

Chris Rock stars as a street hustler who discovers that he and his twin brother were separated at birth and both given away to foster homes. His brother got all the breaks and ended up in the CIA, where he was doing very well until he was murdered. Anthony Hopkins stars as the crusty… More
Chris Rock stars as a street hustler who discovers that he and his twin brother were separated at birth and both given away to foster homes. His brother got all the breaks and ended up in the CIA, where he was doing very well until he was murdered. Anthony Hopkins stars as the crusty old CIA veteran who gets Rock to fill in for his brother on their mission to save the world. Anthony Hopkins was good in this flick but in a very different role from the one we saw in 'Hannibal' while Chris Rock played a more mature but definitely funny Chris Rock. This is an action film full of clichés, it's not going to be a classic or anything, but I'm glad I gave it a chance.
Stefan P

A standard action flick, meaning it's predictable, pointless and flawed. Also, I can't stand Chris Rock for too long, so I think he got too much screen time. He is like a bad version of Chris Tucker from "Rush Hour". There are some great jokes, but they come way… More
A standard action flick, meaning it's predictable, pointless and flawed. Also, I can't stand Chris Rock for too long, so I think he got too much screen time. He is like a bad version of Chris Tucker from "Rush Hour". There are some great jokes, but they come way too rarely for this to be considered as a comedy.
Chad R

I thought this was surprisingly decent - not great but worth a rent.
Erin C

There were funny parts, but overall it was pretty dumb.