Dynamic duo

2 Guns offers a couple of intriguing possibilities. Denzel Washington, who has done fine on the dramatic and action side, has always shown a flair for the funny, yet he hasn’t made many comedies. He made Carbon Copy in 1981 and Much Ado About Nothing in 1993. He’s a drama guy, who sometimes dabbles in action. Let’s just say he hasn’t been paid for providing belly laughs.

Mark Wahlberg has made a lot of action films, but most of them stink (Contraband, The Big Hit). His comedies, on the other hand, mark some of his very best work, with the action comedy The Other Guys being a shining example.

So, does 2 Guns provide a nice chance for Washington to be funnier, and an opportunity for Wahlberg to bring the laughs while shooting his gun in an action movie that isn’t completely lame?

The answer is a mild “yes.” 2 Guns gets no accolades for originality, but the Washington/Wahlberg combo is a winning one for sure, and an extremely tasty and nasty turn by Bill Paxton as a satanic CIA man helps things along. It’s not a straight up comedy, but it has a good share of action-comedy laughs.

Washington plays Bobby Trench, an undercover DEA agent trying to take down a Mexican drug cartel led by the dude from Miami Vice and Battlestar Galactica (Edward James Olmos). Wahlberg is Stig, AWOL from the Navy and looking to clear his name, and some other nonsense that I didn’t really follow.

Through a bunch of “only in the movies” circumstances, the two find themselves teamed up and robbing a bank, unaware that each of them is undercover, or lying about who they are, or whatever. They rob the bank expecting to net a certain amount of money, but wind up with a lot more. Enter Bill Paxton.

Paxton proves mighty adept at playing a man of compromised morals. He has a bit involving Russian roulette that’s actually quite chilling, He chews on every delivery as if it were a mouthful of awesome beef jerky. I haven’t enjoyed Paxton this much in a movie since he wielded an axe and spouted religious claptrap in the underrated 2001 gem Frailty.

The film kicks into a higher gear when the Washington and Wahlberg characters realize each other’s true identities, and work together to overcome various betrayals and double crosses inflicted on them by the CIA, girlfriends, the Navy, the snotnosed kid down the street and Jesus. Everybody seems to be out to screw these guys.

I like Wahlberg most when he’s trying to be funny. I especially liked a sequence where his character is berating a group of men for torturing chickens while he himself is chewing on a barbecued chicken leg. His character has a strange sort of exuberance about him—a goofy, childlike wonder coupled with a shooter’s deadeye that makes him a pretty cool action-comedy partner.

Washington is often called upon to be serious or frighteningly badass, with the occasional chance to cry while totally not looking like he’s going to cry. (I will never forget that tear shooting out of his face in Glory.) Here, he’s allowed to cut loose in a way he’s never really done before, and Wahlberg proves a great counterpart.

The makers of this movie clearly have a dilemma if they go for a sequel. It’s not that we won’t be clamoring for another Washington/Wahlberg pairing, because they are good together. It’s just that it will be difficult to name the thing.

Perhaps they could call it 2 Guns 2? Or 2 Guns II? Or how about 2 Guns: Even Gunnier? Why not Mark Wahlberg is Super Funny When He Acts Like a 10-Year-Old, and He Does it Again in this Poorly Named Sequel? I dunno … some decision makers have a legitimate dilemma on their hands.