Ride Along

                                                                       

            Being the chosen one in anything can be a difficult situation for anyone. To be that person to be the next big thing can bring a lot of pressure. When it comes to movies the system is always trying to find someone to latch on to, the next comedy star, or the next action hero. Well when it comes to the next action hero, that hasn't worked out too well, just look at the names headlining action movies, they are the same ones from thirty years ago. Now comedy is trying not to get caught in the “old is new” format, and for the most part it has fared a lot better with the likes of Zach Galifianakis, and Melissa McCarthy.  The man of the hour is Kevin Hart. Don’t know who he is?  Don’t worry, with four movies coming out this year alone, you are about to know him very well.

        Hart’s stand up act is about as good as you get in that world, so the only next logical step is movies. The good news is, he pretty much plays that guy from his stand up in every movie. He is not trying to be dramatic and win an Oscar, at least not yet, he just wants to make you laugh. In “Ride Along” he plays the preverbal fish out of water, but only like Kevin Hart can play. Ben (Kevin Hart) is a wannabe cop. He is attempting to get into the police academy in order to impress his girlfriend Angela ( Tika Sumpter) and to be the man she deserves. Unfortunately he also needs to impress her brother James (Ice Cube), a cop who doesn't think very highly of Ben.  James invites Ben on a (surprise) ride along hoping to use the opportunity to scare Ben away, while Ben wants to show James he is good enough for his sister. What happens next is all kinds of hijinks and mayhem ensue and a whole lot of Kevin Hart being Kevin Hart.

      This film kind of has me torn, mainly because I like Kevin Hart the comedian; in the words of Ray Liotta from “Goodfellas” he is a “funny guy”. The problem is that the movie is not very funny. Of course it has some funny moments, most of which you can see in the trailer. After said parts, the story becomes predictable and well, not so funny. When you find a way to make Kevin Hart not funny, and Ice Cube act the whole time like he is mad at a bottle of beer, you have just made a lackluster movie.  This could have been funnier, or at least don’t show all of the gold during the trailer. I almost felt like this movie was made for a future weekend long broadcast on TNT, along with all the other PG-13 Ice Cube movies. Save yourself ten dollars and just watch the trailer, you get the whole movie in a nice two minute sum up, because this ride is a lot better when cut short.

Brian Taylor