Bad Boys are older and slower, but bond is as strong as ever

Bickering-buddies bond saves fourth Bad Boys movie from wearing out its welcome, while a light comedy gets female friendship right, writes Leigh Paatsch.

The Bad Boys make good in their fourth outing, while female friendship takes centre stage in a romance with plenty of heart.

BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE (MA15+)

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys: Ride Or Die. Picture: Frank Masi

Director: Adil & Bilali (Bad Boys for Life)

Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jacob Scipio, Eric Dane

Rating:★★★

Showing (but not acting) their age

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have been doing the Bad Boys dance for almost three decades now.

Though the pair aren’t moving so fast these days, their comedic rapport remains as strong and genuinely amusing as ever.

Their new effort arrives on the back of 2020’s Bad Boys for Life, a surprisingly assured action movie that landed well above the expectations of many.

While Ride or Die does not quite match its predecessor in terms of lasting quality, the bickering-buddies bond of its two stars saves the movie from ever getting too close to wearing out its welcome.

Once an initial storyline is bedded down, we come to learn that maverick Miami cops Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) are no longer as insanely indestructible as once thought.

Marcus is on the rebound from a heart attack caused by his famous love of junk food. As for Mike, he is experiencing a series of panic attacks which inhibits his ability to crush crooks without a second thought.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith’s comedic rapport remains as strong and genuinely amusing as ever. Picture: Frank Masi

These afflictions could not come at a less opportune time for our heroes. Their late boss Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano, still present in flashback sequences) has been wrongly implicated as the secret kingpin of a multi-billion drugs cartel.

While Mike and Marcus are determined to clear their respected mentor’s name, doubts remain as to whether they can rise to the challenge.

With the Miami PD seemingly rife with corruption, the pair must seek the help of someone many hold responsible for Howard’s death: Mike’s dangerously mobbed-up estranged son Armando (Jacob Scipio).

As was the case with Bad Boys for Life, Ride or Die achieves maximum entertainment impact when the storytelling stops so that the stunt-driven pyrotechnics can be unleashed.

Two extended action sequences are truly inspired. A frenetic section where Marcus watches awe-struck on CCTV as his son single-handedly repels a terrifying home invasion ends with a terrific visual punchline.

The other standout is an all-stops-out finale set at an abandoned amusement park involving a plane about to crash, an alligator about to bite, and a fleet of miniature drone bombers about to drop their payload.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is in cinemas now

AM I OK? (M)

Dakota Johnson in Am I OK?

Rating:★★★½

Now streaming on Binge, Foxtel

This is a tough one to classify, but an easy one to like. Perhaps even love. Though some prospective viewers will assume the subject here is sex – Dakota Johnson stars as a woman who starts to suspect she might be gay – this beautifully written light comedy is actually all about friendship. In particular, how to remain best friends when the worst of times happen along.

Johnson’s Lucy is a together-ish kind of woman whose life is about to unravel on two distinct fronts. Firstly, an ever-niggling feeling she is just not into guys – her dates with men end with a ceremonial shaking of hands – is intensifying day by day. The time has come for Lucy to take the plunge and sort out her sexual identity once and for all. Secondly, and far more importantly, Lucy’s best friend Jane (Sonoya Mizuno) is about to take a job overseas. The pair have lived in each other’s pockets since they were teenagers. Lucy isn’t sure she can start the quest for her first same-sex relationship without the support of her closest ally.

Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno in Am I OK? Movies rarely get female friendship as right as this.

The key to unlocking the movie’s considerable charm is tuning in to the conversational wavelength on which Lucy and Jane are communicating. As laid-back and lightweight as these exchanges first seem, what these soulmates choose to say (and not say) is both refreshing and revealing. Movies rarely get female friendship as right as this.

IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON (PG)

Paul Simon in In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

Rating:★★★½

Selected cinemas (this weekend)

Long-term fans of singer-songwriter Paul Simon should make tracks for this mammoth documentary chronicle of his incredible body of work. End to end, the doco runs well north of the three-hour mark, so it is definitely true believers who are best served by acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney’s deep-digging approach.

The first act vividly captures Simon’s unlikely rise to global chart dominance.

The first act vividly captures Simon’s unlikely rise to global chart dominance as part of a duo with singer Art Garfunkel. It was here that Simon’s simple, yet irresistible genius as a composer burst to the fore (and also fostered a resentment of Garfunkel for the attention directed towards his unique voice). The second act is equally fascinating: Simon goes solo and gets on a golden run of releases that culminates with his classic (and controversial) Afro-centric album Graceland.

It is only during the present-day sequences, where Simon is shown assembling his latest work, that a little dullness sets in. Nevertheless, learning more about how the best pages of the Simon songbook came to be written and performed totally justifies the commitment asked of the viewer here.