The opening scene was not in the script: it was added late because Bay wanted more Smith-Lawrence scenes, was basically ad-libbed, and uses a cool yellow coloring for Miami.
Highlights include the carjacker's 'I'm a stand-up comedian and I suck' line and the Porsche argument ending in 'a shiny dick with two chairs in it' over the missing cup holder; it is one of the better four-minute openings for an action movie.
The partners staging an argument as a diversion before overpowering someone starts here, feels ad-libbed, and borrows an old Eddie trick from Beverly Hills Cop.
The opening is argued to be the best scene: it sets the push-pull brotherly relationship and answers whether audiences would buy Will as an action star.
The woman used as the decoy in the opening is identified as former Playboy playmate Lisa Boyle.
The first four minutes establish a Running Scared-style dynamic where the partners love each other but bust each other's balls; Running Scared is called the great lost buddy-cop movie.
Other favorites: finding the dead guy while Martin tries not to throw up, Julie's apartment chase by two inept men, the office 'zoo' argument, and Marcus's phone call with his wife.
The masseuse and dog-on-the-furniture stretch and the short liquor-store robbery with its tropical fruit Bubblicious and 'some Skittles' punchline are praised; the fake argument returns there.
The hotel lobby shootout with Smith running in slow motion, shirt open, and the low camera looking up after the getaway is peak Michael Bay establishing his style.
The ending drive is basically a Porsche advertisement, with the role reversal of Martin doing it.
Pick: the final gunfight before the car chase, where everything comes to a head after the dirty cop is revealed, with Martin's 'you forgot your boarding pass' shot; the studio should have given Bay the extra money for it. — Logan Murdock
Favorite scenes are the comedic ones; the pick is the baloney scene, where Julie describes how bologna is made until Marcus is disgusted, and the film is really a comedy-action more than an action comedy. — Van Lathan
Julie's sexual tension is with Mike Lowry as an idea, even after her best friend is killed.
A final most-rewatchable pick is the first scene, exciting to catch when flipping channels.
