Unlikely allies

DWAYNE JOHNSON AND KEVIN HART TEAM UP TO BATTLE BULLIES AND SPIES IN CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

• Dwayne Johnson is one of the hardest working promoters in the entertainment industry, which may explain why so many of his movies are critic- proof, and have been since his Scorpion King headliner debut.

In 2014, Johnson’s swords-and-sandals cinematic effort, Hercules, was skewered by critics, but still earned a respectable $ 243.4 at the box- office. And last year’s disaster flick San Andreas got negative notices, yet won enough fans to warrant a sequel.

Coming in 2017, Johnson films that may or may not be critically embraced include the movie version of Baywatch, the third Journey to the Center of the Earth and Furious 8. But in the meantime, there is the action-comedy Central Intelligence, with the massive Johnson performing opposite the diminutive Kevin Hart. Most preview audiences seem to have enjoyed the interplay – and maybe a few pundits will, too.

In the film, 44- yearold Johnson plays a former bullied teen nerd who i s now a stud secret agent. He reunites with a highschool acquaintance, a once collegiate sportshero-turned- bored accountant ( Hart). Their unlikely all egiance transforms the tale into an oddball buddy romp as government agents try to track them down for alleged illegal international activities.

Despite the car chases and fistfights, the key for the story is actually the bond between Johnson and Hart, who connected from the start. “I was impressed by Kevin, and I told him that,” Johnson says. “I followed him on social media before we met.”

At their first casual get- together, Hart also revealed that he was a Johnson fan, and that their similar goaloriented attitudes would blend well. “Kevin was like, ‘ Dude, I want to go global, so take me with you,’” Johnson says. (He enjoyed acting opposite Hart so much that they’re collaborating on the remake of the fantasy flick Jumanji, which will be in theatres next year.)

Shooting in and around Boston last year, the twosome came on strong – and occasionally had to rely on director Rawson Marshall Thurber to bring them back. Thurber knows the drill of encouraging improvisation without losing sight of the narrative, learning the balance from his previous efforts shaping Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and We’re the Millers.

“Rawson and Kevin made it a really nice, comfortable environment where you could just go and play and have fun,” Johnson says. That doesn’t always happen, he adds. “There are a lot of stars, a lot of egos and a lot of things you have to manage, and it’s not always this easy.”

Johnson knew things would work out just fine after the first day of filming a sequence in which Johnson’s spy pretends he’s a marriage counselor to Hart’s accountant and his wife ( Danielle Nicolet). “My favourite scene is in Dr. Dan’s office when we play the ‘star-gaze slap game,’” says Johnson. “I couldn’t stop laughing. I think you can see that in the outtakes.”

Another comedic moment occurs when Johnson’s bulky secret agent borrows Hart’s accountant pyjamas for a sleepover. “They had to actually sew the seams around me,” says Johnson, who confesses he was bulging in some inappropriate places. “I came out and said to the director, ‘Are you sure this is going to look okay?’ ” The costume had to be adjusted for a PG-13 audience.

Despite the laughs, there are some serious overtones in Central Intelligence. The film deals with t he t oll bullying takes, and how unrealized dreams can interfere with a person’s self- worth. Johnson says he can relate. He faced multiple arrests in his formative years, eventually reforming enough in high school to earn a football scholarship to the University of Miami, which led to his pro-wrestling career as The Rock.

“It wasn’t until I got involved in sports that I found a focus,” he says. “By the time I was a senior, I was ready to go to college. I was lucky, I got a full scholarship and was the only one in my family at that time who had gone to college.”

Surprisingly, he was also bullied, but not quite like his Central Intelligence character. “I was bullied in junior high school,” he says. In one instance, he was jumped by a gang, in another, he punched a kid who had been tormenting him at summer day camp. “I hit that kid so hard after he bullied me all summer, then I ran home really fast.” His mother made him return to resolve the issue with words. “It was a good life lesson for me,” he says.

THERE ARE A LOT OF STARS, A LOT OF EGOS ... AND OFTEN IT’S NOT ALWAYS THIS EASY — DWAYNE JOHNSON I WAS IMPRESSED BY KEVIN. I FOLLOWED HIM ON SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE WE MET