Movie Review: Heads Of State (2025)

Genre: Action Comedy  

Director: Ilya Naishuller  

Starring: Idris Elba, John Cena, Priyanka Chopra, Carla Gugino, Jack Quaid, Stephen Root, Paddy Considine  

Running Time: 113 minutes  

Synopsis: Although they don't like each other, US President Will Derringer (John Cena) and UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) are together on-board Air Force One when the plane is attacked by agents working for fugitive arms dealer Gradov (Paddy Considine). Derringer and Clarke parachute into Belarus and make their way to a safe house in Poland, where they receive help from CIA Agent Marty Comer (Jack Quaid) and MI6 Agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra). Bisset has to escort Derringer and Clarke to Trieste, Italy, where Gradov and his accomplices are orchestrating the collapse of NATO.

What Works Well: Following on the heels of the similarly-themed but much worse G20, Heads Of State succeeds by celebrating the absurdity of its premise. The tension between the two protagonists establishes classic buddy movie dynamics: Derringer is a Schwarzenegger-type action movie star turned politician, Clarke is an idealistic social justice warrior actually believing he's in politics to help people. It takes a while for them to overcome their differences, but of course they both end up kicking butt, wielding weapons, and blowing away bad guys. The special effects are above-average, the next well-staged action set-piece is never more than 10 minutes away, and the trio of Priyanka Chopra, Jack Quaid, and Paddy Considine add memorable support.

What Does Not Work As Well: The evil mastermind is eyerollingly predictable (as the script itself acknowledges), and the  hold-NATO-together imperative is never treated as anything other than superficial politicizing.

Key Quote:

Derringer: Dear, God!

Clarke: I think He's had the day off.

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Movie Review: Isn't It Romantic (2019)

A satirical romantic comedy, Isn't It Romantic tries to poke lame holes at an already self-perforated genre.

In New York City, Natalie (Rebel Wilson) grew up not believing in romance, and is particularly disdainful of the fairytale representations of love in traditional Hollywood romantic comedies. She works as an architect, allows her co-workers to take advantage of her, and is blind to interest from colleague Josh (Adam DeVine). Rich and dishy client Blake (Liam Hemsworth) does not even notice her.

Natalie tangles with a mugger, is knocked out and wakes up in an alternative rom-com reality where the city is pristine, everyone looks beautiful, her apartment is idyllic and Blake is immediately smitten. She plays along and starts a relationship with him, while Josh starts dating model Isabella (Priyanka Chopra) after a meet-cute moment. But Natalie learns that all the fluffy romance is not the answer to her problems.

Making fun of romantic comedies is just too easy, as the genre never represents itself as anything other than modern-day retellings of boy-meets-girl lightweight fairytales with the absolute promise of a happily-ever-after ending. Isn't It Romantic loudly proclaims all the genre's formulaic faults before proceeding to replicate them, as the second half in particular fizzles out into boring predictability.

Natalie's frumpy and imperfect life, seen at the start and end, offers some organic opportunities to celebrate fresh perspectives on modern single living, but the script decides to spend most of its time in the sanitized fantasy of immaculate streetscapes and handsome happy people, and simply does not offer enough of a satirical edge. And so for a long stretch Natalie is stuck in a world overloaded with cliches, as is the film.

Todd Strauss-Schulson directs with little panache, and star Rebel Wilson as Natalie is caught between mocking romance and succumbing to the imperative of finding a happy ending, satisfying no one in the process.

Isn't It Romantic desperately does not want to be what it ultimately is.

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