Ride Along (2014)

It's said that January is known as a wasteland when it comes to film releases. Those "in the know" say that studios release films during this month that they have little or no hope for. That premise might be true or not, but when it comes to Ride Along, there might be some merit in that belief. Meant to be a comedic vehicle for Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, this police procedural is almost too hard to watch. It could've been a lot better.

Struggling every which way to get in the good graces of his girlfriend's brother, erstwhile police academy candidate Ben Barber (Hart) jumps at the chance to prove himself by accepting the challenge of riding shotgun for a day with vice detective James Payton (Ice Cube). Add Serbian gun runners, an underworld kingpin played by none other than Laurence Fishburne (Man Of Steel), and crooked cops as a subplot, and you have the makings of an interesting genre piece. In this case, more like just a piece.

Blame for this catastrophe lays at the feet of the screenwriters, all four of them. Why didn't they ask Kevin Hart (Real Husbands Of Hollywood), who right now is one of the funniest comedians working, to help with the script? Instead they come up with a hodgepodge of bits that aren't funny. One saving scene is when Barber pretends he is Omar (the Fishburne character). Tim Story (Fantastic Four, Think Like A Man) is a credible director, so who knows what he was thinking.

To be fair, Ride Along is not a complete waste of time. It's just unfortunate that with a cast the likes mentioned and John Leguizamo, the film failed to deliver. These actors deserved to be in a much better picture, not one that had potential. If you watch this movie, you"ll be taking a ride, but you might not like where you end up.

www.mediumraretv.org

Fmovies: Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK) Rating: 3/5 stars

Lighthearted, easily pleasing, simplistic, formulaic, yet sufficiently entertaining buddy-cop action comedy. What it lacks in memorable action, it makes up for in it's funny scenes and dialogues. Buddy-cop action comedies are never about great plot-lines. unexpected twists, and riveting direction; so we don;t expect "Ride Along" to be any different. But where it fails to enter the elite in its genre, is the apparent lack of memorable chemistry between Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.

Don't get me wrong, they are both affable in their respective roles and Kevin Hart is actually funny (even though he isn't in the same league as Eddie Murphy). But as the two main leads, they don't feed of each other and create that sizzling chemistry which elevated films like "48 Hrs.", "Lethal Weapon 1 & 2", "Midnight Run", "Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2", "Hot Fuzz", "Rush Hour 1 & 2", City Heat", "Red Heat", "Dhoom 1 & 2", and "Last Action Hero" to certified classics.

Also, though the film has some decent action scenes, they are completely derived and none of the scenes stand out as fresh and long-lasting. What actually holds "Ride Along" together are the quirky and natural humor of Kevin Hart and the deadpan personality of Ice Cube. It's good and entertaining enough for passing time on a lazy afternoon.

When you think of Ice Cube you think of the hardcore rapper from NWA, the gangster persona, not complex actor. Yet since becoming an actor Ice Cube; real name (O'Shea Jackson), has developed himself into quite the character actor. The comedic prescence of Kevin Hart and this budding police comedy brings the movie full tilt. There is a great story line that suggests looking for comfort and approval betweent Hart's character and Cube's. There are hilarious comments throughout the film and the writing was quite original. This is a great movie with strength in the plot, the characters and just fun throughout. There is no doubt I would highly recommend this to everyone. Kevin Hart is becoming the fast uprising comedic actor of late.

Ride Along fmovies. I like Jason Mantzoukas work and it is a shame to him involved in this. I can't blame him for getting a check. At its best, Ride Along is tolerable. Ride Along was only watchable due to the fact that I've enjoyed these actors in other movies. Kevin Hart is the sole actor to bring any humor out of the script, but given the flat performance of Ice Cube, Lawrence Fishburne and the rest of the cast, I just can't say that Hart's part is enough reason to watch. Also, plot points are often introduced to soon be abandoned for the next minor plot point.Ride Along tries to be a comic version of "Training Day," only there's nothing in it as funny as Denzel razzing Ethan. There's nothing much funny in it at all. At its worst, it borders on insulting. A collection of moldy gags that director Tim Story tries to polish.

There are some laughs here, but overall I found this comedy to be rather lame, stale and ridiculous. When you have 4 screenwriters listed, as in this film, it's usually a bad sign.

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube star here, with Hart portraying Ben Barber, who's a rather diminutive high school security guard and expert video game player. He's in a loving relationship with Angela Payton (Tika Sumpter), who's very proud of Ben when he's accepted into the police academy.

However, her highly overprotective brother James, played by Ice Cube, is a Detective with the Atlanta Police Department, and he feels Ben is certainly not good enough for his sister. James is gruff, volatile, and a loner on the force, but he agrees to take Ben on a ride-along for a day of police work.

James' main intention though is to place Ben in one impossible situation after another, on the streets of Atlanta, so he can prove to Angela once and for all that Ben doesn't have what it takes and is really a "loser".

Finally, as Ben closes in on a major arms deal that's going down with a major crime-lord, named Omar (Laurence Fishburne), it all culminates in an overly long, absurd, and predictable finale.

All in all, the plot here just seemed to be a "one-trick pony", with the same theme being run over and over. Combined with the flat humor, I was glad when it was over.

No matter how popular this film becomes at the box office, Kevin Hart no longer has to prove himself as being worthy of a lead star. His comedic timing and graceful style more than prove that in Ride Along. The trouble is that the film itself is so lacking in almost any originality or intelligence that he would have had to do a lot in order to show himself worse than the movie.

Playing the comic relief in a pale yet obvious retread of 48 Hrs. and Training Day, Hart fully utilizes his short stature and body language to his strength. Being rather short, indeed shorter than his female co-star Tika Sumpter, Hart compensates by playing a man-child with a large inferiority complex. Constantly attempting to prove himself capable of something of value, he still cannot help but invoke his knowledge of childish things, mainly video games. He also cries in terror, jumps into his brother-in-law's arms and looks for acceptance at every turn. He is, in fact, a fully-grown imp. What is astonishing about him is how he uses this to carry the movie along. Scene after scene drags along with the obligatory sense of having been done countless times beforehand but it is Hart's sentimentality that shines beyond the dull narrative. Though his facial expressions are often overwrought, he is still capable of carrying scenes purely through his timing and understanding of comic development. At times, he sounds like he is improvising a stand-up bit. Other times, he seems to invoke the speed-demon, whirlish style of Eddie Murphy. No matter his tactic, he makes it count despite a lack of support.

Making things more frozen than necessary is Ice Cube, scrunching up his face in attempting to portray a hard-ass of a cop; one of those lone, righteous moralists who is willing to go against any and all authority in order to prove himself as being right all along about his case. Of course he is, but what is confusing is how the film seems to condemn his behavior as a loner, yet justifies his actions during the course of the story. It is never clear which side the movie falls on and it most likely does not matter. Truthfully, none of the characters or plot points seem necessary at all except to showcase the difference between Hart's ambitious high-school security guard trying to become an Atlanta policeman and Ice Cube's tough-as-nails detective on the hunt for the most ferocious kingpin in the city, so terrifying and imposing that no one has ever seen his face (You will guess who it is right away; the opening credits give it away).

The biggest fault in the screenplay is its lack of developing the relationship between the two key characters: Ice Cube and his sister. Supposedly, they are very close due to being raised in foster homes, leading to him playing over-protective daddy to her. The trouble is the writers never give them a scene for themselves. What kind of relationship did they have or have now? And how has it changed as they have gotten older? And, furthermore, what is Ice Cube's personal life? Does he have one? Clearly, these were not on the writers' or director's mind. The final priority seems to have been only to ensure Kevin Hart came out looking like a fine-bred, comedic leading man for years to come. In this, the movie has succeeded. However, the makers of the movie should not pat themselves on the back. Save that for Mr. Hart himself, the only saving grace in this entire tired, formulaic story.