2 Guns (Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, James Marsden, Edward James Olmos, Bill Paxton, Paula Patton) – It’s not Training Day or The Italian Job , but the two stars of those movie, Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg respectively, bring us an action-packed, star-filled dramedy. While it is not a must-see film, 2 Guns is escapism where the stars and the audience both know that this is mostly fun. The real appeal is just that: Denzel and Marky Mark both seem to enjoy working together and share that joy with the audience.
Washington plays a flawed DEA agent on the trail of a major drug lord; Wahlberg is a lethal naval investigator who is after the drugs but also the DEA agent. Needless to say, they don’t intend to work together. Washington wants to get the bad guy and maybe take some of the goods; Wahlberg is out to get his man. But it is not that simple. When both guys realize that they are both odd men out, they become partners. They end up fighting a drug lord, a rogue Navy unit, and the CIA (Bill Paxton in a totally over-the-top performance). And, guess what, there’s a beautiful woman (Paula Patton, who co-starred with Washington in Déjà vu) who may be working with them or against them.
If you don’t take this too seriously and you’d just like to see good actors having fun in a totally improbable film, see 2 Guns. Or better yet, just wait for it to get to pay-for-view or Netflix.