Review: 'Red Notice' is a strained action comedy that takes three big stars and can't make much of them
Three A-list stars in one action comedy does not add up to more fun in “Red Notice,” a caper movie that’s surprisingly charmless considering the big names at its center: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot.
Johnson plays John Hartley, an FBI profiler who’s assisting Interpol in Rome, trying to thwart the plans of “the world’s second greatest art thief,” Nolan Booth — that’s Reynolds — to steal one of Cleopatra’s eggs from a museum. (In a History Channel-style prologue, it’s explained that there are three large egg-shaped gold treasures, originally a gift from Antony to Cleopatra; the whereabouts of two are known, but the third disappeared centuries ago. Feel free to disregard this information the moment you hear it, because the characters do.)
Sure enough, Hartley spots Booth and proceeds to chase him through the halls of the museum, with the agile Booth dodging the massive Hartley and, eventually, escaping. But when Booth gets to his secret home in Bali, he’s surprised to find Hartley and an Interpol team ready to arrest him.
Back in Rome, though, Hartley learns from his Interpol contact, Inspector Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya), that someone switched the seized egg — and that somehow several million euros mysteriously appeared in a Swiss bank account registered in Hartley’s name. Hartley swears he’s been framed, but Das doesn’t believe him. Hartley is swiftly arrested and spirited to an Interpol “black site,” a Russian prison where Hartley is put in a cell with Booth.
Hartley and Booth learn who set them up: The world’s greatest art thief, known as The Bishop (and played by Gadot). The Bishop wants the information that Booth has — the location of the long-lost third egg — and will spring him from prison if he coughs it up. Instead, faster than you can say “we aren’t partners,” Hartley and Booth team up to intercept The Bishop at the location of Egg No. 2: The mansion of a villainous and filthy rich arms dealer (Chris Diamantopoulos).
Writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber — who directed Johnson in “Skyscraper” and “Central Intelligence,” but has yet to match the lofty heights of his 2004 debut, “Dodgeball” — creates a scenario that takes his characters all over the world, but then directs it in such a flat, airless style that every moment looks like it was filmed in a nondescript Atlanta backlot (which some of it was). The script also gives room for the three leads to banter, but only gives Reynolds enough witty lines to generate any laughs.
Gadot seems to be having the most fun here, letting out the evil side that we never see her display as Wonder Woman. But even with her wrapping a sensuous leg around Johnson on a dance floor, there’s no chemistry on view.
“Red Notice” is reportedly the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made — with $20 million paydays for Gadot and Reynolds (who also got a cameo for his Aviator Gin label), and a bigger one for Johnson, who’s also a producer, and $10 million for Thurber. But it doesn’t seem there was anyone with enough sway to tell them that all the sassy banter, heartfelt male bonding and references to better movies (including a wild turn into Indiana Jones territory) wasn’t working.
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‘Red Notice’
★★
Opens Friday, November 5, in theaters; available for streaming on Netflix starting November 12. Rated PG-13 for violence and action, some sexual references, and strong language. Running time: 115 minutes.