January 22, 2020
Page 7
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Bad Boys for Life
Action thriller
brings another
round of battles
by Dwight Brown
They first teamed up for Bad Boys in
1995, to great box office success. There
was an encore in 2003, Bad Boys II, which
was distinguished by incredible stunts.
Now, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence go
back to the same well one more time. Is
there any water left?
Two new young directors guided the
series into the 2020s. Moroccan-born
Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bi-
lall Fallah (Black, Gangsta) put their own
spin on the footage aided by cinematogra-
pher Robrecht Heyvaert (Black, Gangsta).
What’s on view looks like an ultra-hip ex-
tended music video that captures your eye-
balls and takes them hostage.
A sporty looking, deep blue 992-Gen-
eration Porsche speeds through the streets
of sunny Miami. If a reckless twentysome-
thing was behind the wheel, you’d call the
car a chick magnet. Instead it’s 51-year-old
Detective Mike Lowrey (Smith) steering
the vehicle with his lead foot on the accel-
erator. In his hands the sports car is more
a middle-ager’s last grasp at youth. Low-
rey’s 54-year-old partner Detective Mar-
cus Burnett (Lawrence) sits petrified in the
passenger seat, holding on for dear life and
nauseated by the hyper-dangerous ride.
Burnett: “I’m about to throw up.” Low-
rey: “You better not. That’s hand-stitched
Italian leather. You better drink that s—t!”
And so, it begins. Edge of your seat action
scenes, perfectly shot. Thrills and chills.
Two old friends: One, a swinger, clearly
still in the game. The other, a family man
a whisper away from retirement with an
accountant’s nervous stomach and no love
left for a cop’s perilous life.
Subtly and brazenly, in humor and fam-
ily drama, the script rips into the ages of
the two protagonists like someone pouring
salt on an open wound. The “boys” have
lost a few steps and added gray hairs that
industrial strength Grecian Formula can’t
fix. And the contrasts between the veterans
and the new justice league gets played for
laughs persistently.
But strong is the chemistry between the
Hedwig and the Angry Inch – Portland Center Stage at The
Armory is kicking off the New Year with “Hedwig and the Angry
Inch,” starring Portland’s Delphon “DJ” Curtis Jr. as Hedwig and
Ithica Tell as Yitzhak. Part rock concert, part cabaret, part stand-
up comedy routine, show plays through Feb. 23 in the Ellyn Bye
Studio at The Armory. For tickets, visit pcs.org, by phone at 503-
445-3700 or in-person from the box office.
Fix-It-Fair – Learn simple ways to save money and be healthy
with all-day exhibits, workshops, health tests, financial consult-
ing, a free lunch and more when the city of Portland and other
governmental agencies sponsor a free community Fix It Fair,
Saturday, Jan. 25 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Ockley Green
Middle School, 6031 N. Montana and Ainsworth St.
Chinese New Year – Lan Su Chinese Garden, downtown, cele-
brates Chinese New Year — the most colorful, sensational and
joyous of all Chinese festivals. The celebration roars with lion
dances, glows with lanterns and entertains with cultural activ-
ities, dances and demonstrations from Sunday, Jan. 25 through
Feb. 9. A Chinese New Year parade begins at 11:30 a.m. on Sat-
urday, Jan. 25 at 315 N.W. Davis and concludes with a perfor-
mance at the Oregon Historical Society.
Everybody Reads – Multnomah County Library invites the
community to participate in Everybody Reads 2020, featuring
Tommy Orange’s debut novel about the urban Native experience,
“There There.” Free copies are available at library locations or
download the e-book or audiobook from the library catalog.
Black Experience on Canvas – Portland artist Arvie Smith, a
renowned painter of the black experience, will showcase some of
his new work in a solo exhibit ‘2 Up and 2 Back,’ now showing
through Feb. 2 at the Disjecta Contemporary Arts Center, 8371
N. Interstate Ave.
photo Courtesy s ony p iCtures
The Bad Boys Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are
back together for another ride in the highly anticipated Bad Boys for Life.
two leads. Twenty-five years later, their
bromance is as fresh as the day they met.
Smith, as the mercurial, perpetual bache-
lor exhibits his best swagger in years. His
Mike is like an old club goer who hasn’t
realized the crowd around him is young
enough to be his children. Lawrence’s cur-
mudgeon and sensitive character plays per-
fectly against Smith’s brash attitude. He’s
hysterical in ways only true comedians
can be. The characters’ bond is easy to like
and has been cherished by filmgoers who
will likely follow them into old age even
as these bad boys start to solve crimes in
nursing homes.
Dwight Brown is a film critic for the Na-
tional Newspapers Publishers Association,
the Black Press USA.