I Watch Films: Bad Boys

 

Bad Boys (1995)

Miami police detectives Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) made a huge drugs bust, confiscating $100 million of heroin. A daring break-in at the police headquarters steals it all. With Internal Affairs thinking it’s an inside job they have 72 hours to solve the case.

Mike, who’s rich having inherited money, contacts an ex who is a confidential informant and an escort, asking her to keep an ear out for who might suddenly be spending money, so probably involved. She and her friend Julie (Téa Leoni) are hired by a crooked ex-cop. Drug kingpin Fouchet (Tchéky Karyo) arrives to kill the ex-cop to cover up, also kills Mike’s ex, Julie escapes.

Julie has never met Mike; when she calls him he’s out investigating the murder (and getting knocked out for his troubles). So Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) has Marcus impersonate Mike, picking her up and taking her to Mike’s apartment (also killing some gangsters trying to get her). When Mike recovers he moves into Marcus’s house leading to a bit of comedy. Marcus and Julie treat Mike’s apartment poorly, meanwhile Marcus becomes jealous of how well Mike fits into his life, and both keep scrambling to cover when Julie spots something is off.

After some adventures tracking down the gangsters after Julie recognises one from the mugshots, the deception is revealed and Julie tries to leave and is immediately kidnapped. With time up and the department being shut down Captain Howard delays the order. They finally get access to the crooked ex-cop’s file, discover the source of the leak and figure out that Fouchet is going to try to fly out so head for the airport and a final shootout.

This has glamour, some real chemistry between Smith and Lawrence (effortlessly handing off comedian and straight man) and some good stunts. If it’s a little jarring seeing fun comedy about Mike’s rug getting stained followed by half a dozen henchmen getting murdered, and the plot is weightless. Still it keeps moving, does it’s job and is never uninteresting on screen.

Watch This: Exciting stunt- and joke-filled buddy cop film
Don’t Watch This: Light-hearted murder and contrived embarrassing situations