BAD COMPANY

CAST: Anthony Hopkins (Gaylord Oakes), Chris Rock (Jake Hayes/Kevin Pope), Peter Stormare (Adrik Vas), John Slattery (Roland Yates), Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon (Nicole), Kerry Washington (Julie) SCR: Jason Richman, Michael Browning DIR: Joel Schumacher STUDIO: Touchstone Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
MPAA: Rated PG-13, for intense sequences of violent action, some sensuality and language
RUNNING TIME: 112 minutes

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer called his latest action opus BAD COMPANY (also the name of a 1995 Touchstone film). The 1995 movie was shot under the name BLACK SHEEP, which incidentally was the title of another existing movie. The fact that the creative team hung their entire $100 million summer movie on such a lame moniker is a telling example of how much of this film was recycled.

It's a typical Bruckheimer fish-out-of-water film. That means we are fed with some funny bits about the hero who is caught in inexplicable situations, all beyond his control.

Unfortunately with a Bruckheimer film, it rarely matters who the director is because the results turn flat.

The plot concerns an illegal trade gone awry, which results in the death of CIA Agent Kevin Pope (Rock). Of course, Kevin had a twin brother, Jake Hayes, who happens to be the only man who can complete the job. Before you can say ``obvious plot'' we learn that Agent Gaylord Oakes (Anthony Hopkins) has all of eight days to train Jake to his brother's expert level.

The original title was CZECHMATE, a wittier name that also reflects the parallel chess match taking place played between the black market arms dealers and the CIA. To lend a more physical tie-in, Jake is seen hustling chess players, just after his brother Kevin conducts negotiations over a chess board.

One of the lamer gags in the trailer has Jake discovering a beautiful woman (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) in Kevin's apartment, taking a shower. It is Kevin's ex-girlfriend Nicole, a CNN reporter who has let herself in to freshen up in between assignments and has no clue that Kevin is dead. It would have been nice and a bit realistic if she was allowed to grieve a moment but instead they are thrown together and lead to scenes that are beyond common sense. To make matters worse, after the next action sequence, she's gone, with barely an explanation. What a waste of a character.

But BAD COMPANY isn't all that bad. Sure, it panders to the dumbest guy in the theater, but there is some bang for your nine bucks. Chris Rock is very funny, and surprisingly, is a good leading man. His scenes with girlfriend Julie (Kerry Washington) are almost genuine, and his dramatic moments are believable.

Anthony Hopkins, on the other hand couldn't look more bored if he tried. He actually enters the final act of the film reading a book while Rock is dangling in peril. Then again, he does get to call Chris Rock a "bitch."

It was also a treat to see Irma P. Hall again, as Rock's adopted mother. Hall is a warm presence and plays every scene well, no matter how cliched her lines.

The movie makes nice use of its scenes in Czechoslovakia, including an inspired car chase through a knee-high field of grass. But so much of the action is on the run, Rock runs, the thugs are running after Rock and the CIA runs after the thugs. It's uninspiring, and it makes you wonder why they bother to film so many new scenes. Why not just string running sequences from other movies. It would have the same effect.

By the time Jake's girlfriend is kidnapped and held ransom in the final stretch, it's a cliched-ridden freefall.

The film is rated PG-13, but heavily edited to achieve that rating. nevertheless, there are the needed senseless violence and just enough gory bits to add to box office success.

I'm also not sure how responsible it is to hand out tips on how to smuggle nuclear weapons via mail courier, but that's just me.

An incidental piece of casting finds Brooke Smith playing alongside Hopkins as a CIA agent. Smith, to the observant filmgoer, was the girl in the pit in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. While she never shared screen time with Hannibal Lecter, they nonetheless lent the other some character credibility.

But aside from some good performances, this film is everything you've seen before. And after all that name shuffling, you'd think ol' Jerry should have known better than to use the word "bad" in the title.