Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle 鈥淗eads of State,鈥� but it鈥檚 surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of .
The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected U.S. President Will Derringer, a former action star.
鈥淗eads of State,鈥� directed by Ilya Naishuller (鈥淣obody鈥�), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that 鈥淗eads of State,鈥� which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: 鈥淚f NATO falls, there鈥檚 no backstop against despots and dictators.鈥�
It鈥檚 a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that 鈥淗eads of State鈥� is too timely, don鈥檛. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much 鈥淗eads of State鈥� 鈥� like most of Hollywood鈥檚 output 鈥� is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality.
You could argue that that鈥檚 not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of 鈥淗eads of State鈥� is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie鈥檚 mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences.
The best thing going for 鈥淗eads of State鈥� is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters鈥� divergent histories 鈥� Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician 鈥� in debates like which one of them is 鈥済ym strong鈥� as opposed to 鈥渟trong strong.鈥�
That鈥檚 one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in 鈥淗eads of State鈥� goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies 鈥� 鈥淢idnight Run,鈥� 鈥�48 Hrs.,鈥� 鈥淭he Nice Guys鈥� 鈥� are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena鈥檚 Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they鈥檙e both beefy dudes in suits.
As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we鈥檙e left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions.
鈥淗eads of State,鈥� an Amazon MGM Studios release is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for sequences of strong violence/action, language and some smoking. Running time: 113 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
