Starting in 1996, we see star pupil Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) receiving an award at his last high school pep rally and the overweight Robbie Weirdicht (Dwayne Johnson) is being bullied while taking a shower. When the bullies leave Robbie naked in the middle of the gym for all to see Calvin comes to his aide and so begins a chain of events that lead into the start of the movie.

Twenty years have passed and Calvin is now stuck in a mundane office job, he is having problems with his college sweetheart Maggie (Danielle Nicolet), who is now his wife and the twenty year re-union is coming up where he does not want everybody to see just what a comparative failure his life has become. When he receives a Facebook friend request from a Bob Stone he accepts and soon realises that it is in fact Robbie Weirdicht and agrees to meet for drinks. Robbie has gotten things together and while still being a bit weird he has turned all the fat to muscle and seems to have gotten his life on track. During their night out Calvin comes to notice that Robbie has done exactly the opposite of him and when Robbie asks him for a favour in looking at some accounting records which he is having problems with he reluctantly agrees to help.

The next morning the CIA turn up at Calvins home claiming that Bob Stone is a rogue agent and Calvin has been accussed of assisting a wanted criminal. When Calvin brings the agents to his office to show them the files Bob wanted him to look at Bob shows up and rescues Calvin against his wishes so the two men must team up to clear their name and get to the high school re-union in time.

Johnson has really made a name for himself in Hollywood in the past few years with his performances as Hobbs in the Fast And The Furious franchise and he showed his comic ability in the very underrated Pain & Gain. He hits all the right notes here as the initially childlike Stone with his bum bag and unicorn t-shirt fawning over his high school idol who transforms as the movie progresses as the many layers of his character are fully revealed. Hart has yet to win me over as he still comes across as but of a manic version of Chris Rock and, in my opinon, has yet to stamp his mark on a movie as a man who can command a lead role, although his performance here does come close. While quite similar to the Ride Along movies in terms of the fish out of water plot line the movie elevates itself with some moments of comic brilliance, watch out for the marriage counsellor scene, or the ‘Are You Out Or In?’, ‘I’m Out’, ‘Glad You’re In’ routine which shouldn’t work as well as it does.

While it’s not a brilliant movie the chemistry and partnership between the leads make it very enjoyable even if it has all been done before. Although it does get a bit bogged down in the final third when it begins to swap the comedy for action scenes which takes away from the strongest features of the movie. I hope we get another comedy movie with Hart & Johnson in future as the partnership definitely works (please don’t let it be Central Intelligence 2) and it’s worth a watch as you will get a laugh or two out of the film, just don’t expect a classic.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10