Universal Pictures
The boundless movement, talk and sibling-like play that pervades 2 Guns makes this movie Mercurial to the core.
The leading male characters are undercover DEA agent Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) and Marcus “Stig” Stigman (Mark Wahlberg), a naval intelligence officer who’s gone AWOL. The two men, as we learn, stumbled upon each other a while back and informally partnered up to conduct some apparently criminal activities. Neither man is aware of the other’s real identity.
To give more away would spoil the ensuing mayhem – both smart-mouth comical and shockingly life-and-death, often in the same frame – fueled by Mercury’s trickster persona. And, like Mercury’s travel itinerary between earth and the underworld, 2 Guns, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, zig-zags with breakneck speed between two worlds, represented by DEA agent (Paula Patton), a Mexican drug honcho (Edward James Olmos), a naval officer (James Marsden) and a dapper fellow with government ties and a penchant for Russian roulette (Bill Paxton).
The movie’s sole non-talking character is, perhaps, the most talkative and animated of all. It’s the money – lots and lots of it – and it motivates the major characters in different ways. Like Mercury, the imp that can’t sit still, 2 Guns’ cash is incapable of staying put in the same location more than a few minutes once this story gets started.
One of the movie’s pleasures is watching Bobby and Stig, both Mercurial motormouths, who are clearly without personal ties and yet endearingly desperate to make a genuine human connection with each other. With Mercury driving the action, though, don’t try separating sibling affection from hardcore tomfoolery.
Astrology Film Rating: ☿ (Mercury)
