In the new Universal Pictures movie, “2 Guns,” the audience gets to watch as Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg play undercover agents betrayed at every turn. The two men find that they have no one they can go to for help, maybe not even each other. It is a buddy cop action comedy where the dynamic between the two men is crucial.
So, just how close are Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg? Well, in our interview with them, Wahlberg insists that if Washington had invited to drive around in a Winnebago through Arizona so that they could bond prior to making the movie, he would have gone. We don’t know if that’s really true, but if our time with the men showed us anything, it’s that they are undeniably comfortable with each other off screen, something they certainly brought on screen for the film. Says Wahlberg, “The whole movie lives and dies on the chemistry between the two guys.”
As the characters in “2 Guns,” Bobby “Beans” Trench (Washington) and Michael “Stig” Stigman (Wahlberg), get into more and more trouble, some might wonder why they don’t just pack it in and head off to an island somewhere. Could it be that their own personal code, their moral compass, or whatever you want to call it stops them?
Washington isn’t so sure, telling us that Bobby’s only code “Is that he doesn’t have a code.” Wahlberg’s Stig is somewhat different, “I’m a little bit more gullible that the branch of the military that I represent has my best interests at heart.” Those differences in world view and approach give Wahlberg and Washington more to play and are an essential part of “2 Guns,” just as any buddy cop film requires the characters to come at problems from different angles.
“2 Guns” is directed by Baltasar Kormakur. It also stars Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden, and Edward James Olmos.
The movie shoots into theaters August 2nd.