BAD COMPANY (2002)
MORGAN'S RATING
This is the story of a "street-wise" African-American bookie who is enlisted by the CIA to take the place of his late, Harvard-educated twin, so he can finish an important project his brother was working on. He teams up with a veteran CIA agent named Gaylord Oakes who trains him to act more like an agent would.
Anthony Hopkins (Gaylord Oakes), Chris Rock (Jake Hayes/Kevin Pope), Matthew Marsh (Dragan Adjanic), Kerry Washington (Julie), Peter Stormare (Adrik Vas),
Garcelle Beauvais (Nicole), Brooke Smith (Swanson), Daniel Sunjata (Carew), DeVone Lawson Jr. ( Parish), Willis Robbins (Officer McCain), Dragan Micanovic (Michelle 'The Hammer' Petrov), John Slattery (Roland Yates), Marek Vasut (Andre), Adoni Maropis (Jarma), Majed Ibrahim (Henchman 2), Peter Macdissi (Henchman 3), Fuman Dar (Henchman 4), Irma P. Hall (Mrs. Banks), Petr Jakl (Darius), Dan Ziskie (Dempsey), John Aylward (Ferren), John Fink (Fink), Joseph Edward (Club Owner), Deborah Rush (Mrs. Patterson), David Fisher (Young Valet), Jan Nemejovsky (Hotel Manager), Winter B. Uhlarik (Hotel Manicurist 1), Elin Spidlova (Hotel Manicurist 2), Madalena Souskova (Manicurist 3), Michael Ealy (G. Mo), T.J Cross (Cool Bean).
TWO MISMATCHED PARTNERS. ONE MESSED UP CASE!
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher (Batman & Robin).
WRITERS: Gary Goodman, David Himmelstein, Jason Richman and Michael Browning.
PRODUCERS:
Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Browning. 
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Kenny Bates, David Minkowski, Eli Richbourg, Pat Sandston and Matthew Stillman. 
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Gary Goodman, Chad Oman, Lary Simpson and Clayton Townsend.
ORIGINAL MUSIC: Trevor Rabin and Paul Linford (additional music).
DISTRIBUTOR: Walt Disney Pictures.
FACTS
RELEASE DATE: June 7th, 2002 (USA)
DVD RELEASE DATE: November 12th, 2002 (USA)
BOX OFFICE OPENING: $11.0 million (USA)
BOX OFFICE RESULT: $30.1 million (USA)
BUDGET: $70 million (USA)
SHOOTING DATES: March 2001 -- July 2001
- Originally titled "Black Sheep" until it was discovered that there was already a movie titled "Black Sheep". The other movie starred David Spade and the late Chris Farley who both co-starred with Chris Rock on "Saturday Night Live". Ironically, the new title is also the name of a 1995 film starring Laurence Fishburne.
- This was one of the last movies ever filmed in the World Trade Center (some of the subway scenes).
- Two of the CIA agents teamed together are Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter) and Brooke Smith, victim Catherine Martin from
Silence of the Lambs (1991).
QUOTES
Jake Hayes: Does this play DVD?
Gaylord Oakes: No. It's a portable nuclear bomb!
Gaylord Oakes: Get in the car, bitch!
[Yates insults Jake]
Jake: Hey, Man, first off all, I'm not your son. Second of all, did it ever occur to you that I might want to do something 'cause it's the right thing? Hey, I'm the one with the dead brother, I'm the one who misses his girl, and I'm supposed to put up with your shit 'cause you're a spy? Big deal! Every woman on the planet's a spy! Man, you guys can't even find Saddam Hussein. You know, if you told a woman, right now at 8:00 in the morning, that her husband was sleeping with Saddam Hussein, she'd be able to find Saddam by 8:00 that night, and say "Saddam, don't you ever come around my house no more!" Hey, I did you a favor, OK? You called me! Now, if you ever talk down to me again, I will beat your ass so bad you'll be the only guy in heaven with a wheelchair. You better act right before you get smacked right, bitch.
CRITICAL COMMENTS
"Feels like the kind of movie that might have been designed by a marketing software program for MBA studio executives." -- Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Jake: You got the wrong guy. I don't even have a brother. That's just a picture of me in a suit. You could've got that off the internet. I saw a picture of Bill Gates with three titties on the net.
"The first question to ask about Bad Company is why Anthony Hopkins is in it. We assume he had a bad run in the market or a costly divorce, because there is no earthly reason other than money why this distinguished actor would stoop so low." -- Sam Allis, Boston Globe
Jake: In my foster house, we were so poor, we used to lick stamps for dinner.
Gaylord Oakes: Where are You?
Jake: At the corner of eat shit and fuck you.
"One problem with the movie is that it jams too many prefabricated story elements into the running time." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times
"Predictably soulless techno-tripe.: -- Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
"Seems more like a product than an attempt to tell a story." -- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
"A long-winded, predictable scenario." -- Desson Howe, Washington Post
"Bad Company has one of the most moronic screenplays of the year, full of holes that will be obvious enough to those who aren't looking for them." -- James Berardinelli, Reel Views
"More of a gunfuest than a Rock concert." -- Stephen Hunter, Washington Post