in other words
october19
2017
9
Inside Our Movies: Central Intelligence (2016)
Unexpected unavailability
leads to surprising rewards
By Jim Bryson
It may take you a while, but if
you ever start running out of interest-
ing films at our local library then you
should know about the Passport Pro-
gram. With a simple membership at the
Vernonia Library you can apply for and
get a Washington County or Multnomah
County Library card as well. This is an
exceptionally handy benefit considering
that these library systems are top notch
and have wonderfully diverse and very
large collections of films, from Charlie
Chaplin to current releases.
This week I had intended on
watching and reviewing Bladerunner
(1982), a timely notion because of the
recent, highly anticipated, release of its
sequel Bladerunner 2049 (2017). How-
ever, I wasn’t able to find Bladerunner
in the stacks at the Hillsboro library,
there are so many films but someone
else must have had the same idea as
I. This wasn’t that much of a prob-
lem as there are lots of other options.
So I started looking in the “B” sec-
tion and then moved onto the “Cs.”
This is when I ran across Central In-
telligence (2016). I wasn’t searching
for a buddy comedy but that is what
I ended up watching, and it was awe-
some!
Central Intelligence (2016)
is a comedy film from late last year
starring Dwayne “The Rock“ John-
son and Kevin Hart. The premise of
the story is that our two main char-
acters are former high school class-
mates. Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart)
was “The Man“ in high school but
has found his life to not be the life he
thought he would have 20 years lat-
er. In contrast, Bob Stone (Dwayne
Johnson) was the brunt of extreme high
school bullying and hasn’t been seen or
Mist-Birkenfeld
Helping Circle Fall Festival
Mist-Birkenfeld
Helping Circle Fall
Festival will be held
November 4 at the Mist
School Gym at 6:00
pm. The Fall Festival
will feature a raffle for
a quilt of the area’s
historical buildings and
landmarks of the past,
created by Carol Work-
man from Scappoose.
Tickets are currently
being sold at the Mist-
Birkenfeld Fire Depart-
ment; the drawing will
be at the festival. The
Mist-Birkenfeld Fire
Volunteer Association is
also raffling a portable
generator. The festival
has hot dogs, pies, a
silent auction and live
local entertainment.
The Mist-Birkenfeld Helping Circle has been a women’s commu-
nity service organization for the past 82 years. The purpose of the Helping
Circle remains the same: women working together to fund community
projects and to help people in their time of need.
heard from in the 20 years since gradua-
tion. As their high school reunion grows
nearer the two friends reconnect. It turns
out that our bullied high school kid has
turned into a secret agent! Not only that,
but he is on the run and needs an old
friend’s help. Bob still sees Calvin as
Where Do You
Read the Voice?
the coolest guy in school and Calvin still
sees Bob as the high school outcast but
both characters have a lot to teach the
other about heart and friendship. While
the viewer can clearly see that the high
school roles have been reversed, the
joy of this movie is the two characters
learning to see themselves in the same
way that we do.
As you can see, this is a pretty
standard Hollywood story. Each char-
acter finds personal and interpersonal
value and unexpected discovery. At
the same time we get to see two unfit
characters form a strong bond. This
film very much reminded me of other
movies such as Twins (1988) and Rush
Hour (1998). What made this film en-
joyable is the performance of Johnson.
Hart, the comedian, plays the straight
man character to The Rock’s comedic
timing... Can I, just for a minute, point
out the fact that Dwayne Johnson is an
awesome actor? It is unusual to find an
actor known for their physicality who
can offer performances ranging from
menacing, Faster (2010), to the entirely
hilarious performance that we see here.
Central Intelligence (2016)
makes for a very fun, although familiar,
story that is surprising in its fresh ap-
proach. This and other wonderful films
can be seen using our local Vernonia li-
brary system.
Farmwoman’s Nursery
Lorna Poetter
(503) 429-8200
Mary Lou Busch from the Mist-
Birkenfeld Fire District stopped
and read the Voice during a
recent trip to Juneau, Alaska.
2121 N Mist Drive (503) 369-09 2 3
PoetterFarm@gmail.com
FB: Farmwoman’s Nursery
NEW LOCATION
Mariolino’s
Pizza & Grill
Serving
breakfast, lunch & dinner
Ice cream - cones, shakes & sundaes
Daily Specials
Family owned and operated for over 40 years.
721 Madison Avenue, Vernonia
(503) 429-5018
Fresh Roasted Coffee
espresso
baked goods
825 Bridge Street • 503-429-0214