Maybe opposites really do attract.
From Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, to Will Smith and Tommy Lee
Jones, the entertainment industry has shown that the pairing of two
seemingly contradicting characters seems to be the formula for
box-office success, at least in the non-buddy, buddy-action film
genre, if there is such a thing.
If that’s true, then Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and Seann
William Scott might just have a hit on their hands with their
upcoming film, “The Rundown.”
For the uninformed, the non-buddy, buddy-action movie is
probably better described as a flick where an overly obnoxious
individual gets paired up with an all-too-serious counterpart, the
two ultimately working together to achieve a common goal. In this
case, it’s to find a golden cat hidden in the Amazon
forest.
In Universal’s “The Rundown,” Beck (Johnson)
is a bounty hunter paid to catch Travis (Scott) in Brazil and
return him to the United States to his wealthy father, who has
little tolerance for his son’s playful antics. But Beck has
even less patience for Travis, who tries to convince Beck to join
his treasure hunt for the golden idol. Of course, as in any
non-buddy, buddy action movie, the two become good friends by the
end of the film, starting a relationship that seems like it could
possibly even lead to a sequel.
Although according to the actors, neither one set out to
re-create other successful non-buddy, buddy-actions films, like the
“Rush Hour” series, the comparisons seem to be
inevitable for the two.
“I think that this film is a little different in terms of
these guys. Beck is not super-super cool, whereas Chris Tucker is
super-super cool,” Johnson said.
“What was really flattering to me was I read a review and
this guy wrote that this movie reminded him of “˜48
Hours,’ and not necessarily of the movies that have come out
in the last five to seven years. “¦ It was a non-buddy,
buddy-action movie where none of the characters took themselves too
seriously,” he continued.
According to director Peter Berg, his biggest goal was to create
an original project that would be different than the buddy films of
the past.
“The only thing I set out to do was to make a fun movie,
and we’ll do whatever we can to find some humor,” Berg
said.
Although people will still likely compare Johnson and Scott to
the cinematic duos of the past, something that visibly sets the two
apart could be that Johnson and Scott, who hadn’t seen each
other’s previous films before shooting, had become close
friends in real life by the end of the project, despite an accident
on the set that caused Scott to get stitches.
 “I was in shock, because when he (Johnson) pulled
out the knife in rehearsal, I thought “˜that looks
real,’ and then when he cut me, I was like, “˜Oh
f—!” Scott said.
Nevertheless, the two appear to have found a solid relationship
that according to Johnson and Scott, both still value greatly.
“There are many great things that came out of this movie,
and one of them is that I gained a friend, Seann. Probably for
three to four months, we made it a point to hang together, go out.
And I would’ve thought the same thing, like “˜I have
nothing in common with this guy,’ but we’re actually
alike in many ways,” Johnson said.