

Marcus Burnett is a henpecked family man. Mike Lowrey is a footloose and fancy free ladies' man. Both Miami policemen, they have 72 hours to reclaim a consignment of drugs stolen from under their station's nose. To complicate matters, in order to get the assistance of the sole witness to a murder, they have to pretend to be each other.
Acting
Lawrence's 'You stole my FACE!' meltdown is art
Direction
Bay's first feature—already maximalist, already iconic
Cinematography
Miami never looked this sweaty and glamorous again

Director
Michael Bay
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence improvised so much that the script supervisor allegedly stopped taking notes.
This launched Bay's career AND proved Black leads could carry blockbuster action—Hollywood took the wrong lessons from both.