Heads of State

In the action-comedy Heads of State, Idris Elba plays Sam Clarke, the British Prime Minister, and John Cena stars as Will Derringer, a former action movie star turned U.S. President. The two leaders, despite their public rivalry and clashing personalities, are forced to team up when they become targets of a ruthless Russian arms dealer, Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine), who aims to destabilize NATO.

Heads of State Review

Tonally homeless, Heads of State was clearly intended to be a popcorn-munching throwback to 80s odd-couple action flicks.

                   

However, it mostly comes across as though, once Cena came on board, someone, possibly him, was unwilling to let his “comic relief” character fully commit to its inherent slapstick/lovable goofballness. It’s also possible that those behind the camera quickly realized he wasn’t up to it and made the regrettable changes.

Whatever the reason, the result is that Heads of State never seems to know how seriously to play from moment to moment, which makes it neither a particularly funny movie nor an especially dynamic action flick. The only thing that partially holds it together is the surprising chemistry between its leads, John Cena and Idris Elba. Yet that’s not enough to save this deeply flawed flick.

Heads of State provides one or two chuckles but otherwise barely rates as good enough for background noise.

WOKE REPORT

Year 3000

• Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays a girl so boss that Kathleen Kennedy thinks it’s a bit much. Suffice it to say, the T-1000 would run from her.
  • She shakes off haymakers to the face delivered by trained male fighters and literally dodges bullets fired from guns that she never sees.
  • If she were in the movie more, I’d have taken more points off the Woke-O-Meter, but hers is a very secondary role.

Here Chick Chick Chick

• There are a number of ladies tucked into positions and roles that don’t feel natural. However, most are lineless extras or those playing bit and irrelevant parts.

Ebony and Ivory

• Elba and Cena have a fair bit of back and forth, and the script often feels as though Cena’s character (white American president) was initially meant to be a lot dumber and the primary focus of derision, but was inartfully changed to accommodate Cena’s status and abilities. The end result is that Elba definitely gets the better of Cena more often than the reverse, but it could have been a lot worse.

Schmuck Todd

• At any given time, there are over 120,000 out-of-work professional actors in Hollywood. Having Chuck Todd in your film, even if it’s to do nothing more than provide some newsposition (exposition delivered via a news program), is a conscious decision to promote his particular brand of punditry. That’s worth a point off.