Heads of State

Directed by Ilya Naishuller, Heads of State follows the American President (John Cena’s Will Derringer) and the British Prime Minister (Idris Elba’s Sam Clarke) as they’re forced to team up after Air Force One is attacked. Filmmaker Naishuller, armed with a screenplay by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Harrison Query, delivers an overlong yet mostly entertaining action comedy that benefits from its raft of exciting set-pieces (eg that aforementioned attack on Air Force One) and agreeable central performances, as, in terms of the latter, both Cena and Elba turn in terrific, charismatic work that’s heightened by their irresistible chemistry together – with their efforts matched by an agreeable supporting cast that includes Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stephen Root, and Paddy Considine. (It’s clear, however, that Jack Quaid’s scene-stealing appearance as an affable CIA officer remains an obvious high point within the proceedings.) And while Naishuller generally does an effective job of moving things along at a brisk clip, Heads of State, saddled with a far-from-streamlined runtime of 113 minutes, does run out of steam as it progresses into an exhausting (and somewhat anticlimactic) third act – although it’s not quite enough to diminish what’s otherwise (and predominantly) a top-tier straight-to-streaming actioner (ie the movie is just so much better than most of its non-theatrical brethren).

*** out of ****