★★ (2 out of 4)
If you’re looking for a comedy with good energy and grating execution, “Heads of State” is just your ticket. It’s fun to see Idris Elba losing his cool as the prime minister of Great Britain—there’s never been a hotter one. And pro wrestler John Cena could play musclebound in his sleep, but he’s having a blast as a former TV celebrity elected to America’s highest office (any guesses?). With two stars (and castmates in “The Suicide Squad”) ready to play, “Heads of State,” released worldwide this week by Amazon MGM Studios via Prime Video, should have been better served with a wittier script and a credible reason for being. But as critic extraordinaire Forrest Gump once instructed, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Right you are, Forrest.
No one can accuse “Heads of State” of not meeting and exceeding the inexhaustible public demand for dumb fun. And Cena and Elba seem eager to shake their sillies out. Elba plays longtime UK PM Sam Clarke like a grumpy genie who’s been stuffed too long in a lamp—itching to get out and party. You can tell Sam has no use for Cena’s U.S. President Will Derringer, the former action star of “The Water Cobra” franchise,” with no script for playing the leader of the free world. And yet here’s the world’s oddest couple trapped together on Air Force One for a NATO meeting in Italy.
Cue the hijacking by global terrorists who can’t stop our boys from parachuting to safety as the jet explodes. With the media believing these heads of state are dead, the gym-strong POTUS and the low-polling PM concoct a plan to save NATO and of course the world.
Cena and Elba aren’t the whole show. Priyanka Chopra Jonas pops up as Sam’s ex, top MI6 agent Noel Bisset, who outsmarts both of them with her plan of escape. And Jack Quaid springs a few key surprises as a weapons specialist they meet at a CIA safe house. Director Ilya Naishuller (“Nobody”) disguises the thin-to-invisible plot with action sequences that huff and puff and blow down the laws of logic and physics.
It took three screenwriters to cobble together the dialogue. “I like actual cinema,” says Sam, who insists he’s never seen a single one of Will’s blockbusters. “I’m classically trained,” Will protests. “Did you know I once did a play with Edward Norton?" And so on.
The banter continues as our mismatched allies struggle to evade the private army of Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine) and his hand-picked blonde bodyguard (Katrina Durden). The always welcome Carla Gugino also shows up as Vice President Elizabeth Kirk, who maybe doesn’t have Will’s best interests at heart.
If you’re thinking “Heads of State” is too savvy to include the usual fights, gun battles and car chases, you’d be wrong. Though one scene used a limo instead of a regular car. Like its stars, this movie will stoop to anything for a laugh. Don’t worry. You’ll start building affection toward such comic desperation, despite the low ratio between jokes and jokes that actually land.
Critics will throw bricks at “Heads of State,” that’s for sure. But manbaby humor may be just what we need in these dark days. In their own irresistibly idiotic way, Cena and Elba do just that. And for that a grateful nation says thank you.