Ride Along **
Kevin Hart has fast become a US household name, only recently proving more notorious this side of the pond with his turn in the Stallone-De Niro boxing comedy Grudge Match. Now he’s fully exposed – as apposed to blasts of over-enthusiasm in the latter film, paired with stony-faced Ice Cube in cop comedy Ride Along that entertains but never rises above the genre’s usual well-worn clichés.
Fast-talking school security guard Ben (Hart) wants to be a cop and marry his stunning fiancée Angela (Tika Sumpter). He gets into the Academy but there’s only one problem; he has to impress his brother-in-law-to-be, James (Cube), in order to gain his girl’s hand in marriage. Tough Atlanta cop James doesn’t exactly like video-gaming addict Ben and doesn’t understand what his sister sees in him. In the hope that he can put an end to Ben’s cop dreams, as well as get rid of him from his sister’s life once and for all, James decides to take Ben on a 24-hour patrol or ‘ride along’ of Atlanta’s mean streets.
Hart in full flow is like watching Chris Rock on speed, including every standard Black man quip. There is modicum of chemistry with Cube who’s just too moody to fully enjoy, with the latter holding back an excitable, yapping puppy. Basically, both leads overdo the classic keen-jaded, straight-foolish comedy duo balance that it becomes a caricature and tiring to watch. Ride Along’s success Stateside is bemusing and can only be credited to Hart’s ‘cute’ likeability and the film’s ‘easy on the brain’ viewing, reminiscent in plot of a 48 Hrs. (1982) throwback, say.
We soon begin to sympathise with Cube’s James though, when the constant Hart/Ben jabber becomes more frenetic as things heat up. Sadly, this film is no clever reinvention of the genre’s tropes, unlike The Heat last year that tried pairing off two strong female comediennes with success. Ride Along even peddles out the standard warehouse standoff sequence that’s forgettable soon after watching, even with a star turn from Laurence Fishburne.
It’s not all bad as Hart’s Ben sets out to win hearts and minds, like a guinea pig caught up in a social experiment that’s both psychologically and physically demanding. But it’s a tad insulting to real hardworking cops out there that as the film suggests, playing a war video game equips you for life in the force and targeting baddies. If only it was that simple, it would be a damn sight cheaper to train an officer.
Ride Along fills its quota of action-packed moments right from the very first scene, so there is plenty of carnage, explosions and chaotic shoot-outs to feast on. It also fulfils the nerd’s fantasy of getting the gorgeous girl (Sumpter) through sheer gaming prowess. It’s also a reasonable platform to elevate Hart’s career further as he comes off the best. Aside from that, Ride Along offers nothing new, however entertaining parts of it are and enthusiast Hart can be.
2/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
