Ride Along (2014)

Ride Along is a movie staring comedian Kevin Hart, and Ice Cube. Ice Cube plays James Payton, a cop who is also the brother of Kevin Harts characters girlfriend. Hart plays Ben Barber who is a school security guard who wants to become a cop. He feels that accomplishing that will make him worthy of being able to start a life with his girlfriend. He wants to marry her, but he feels like he needs the approval of her brother James. You get the feeling the cop thing is simply a means to do that. James decides to take him on a ride along in order to show him he is not cut out for the job, or his sister, and hopefully get rid of Ben. Obviously other stuff happens, shenanigans ensue, and there is a bigger event at play. Not exactly a great story, but as this is a comedy, it doesn't really need to be anything grand or spectacular.

So if the laughs are going to be the movies main appeal, how well does it do in that area? Let me ask you this, do you like Kevin Hart's stand up? He brings that same whiny voiced, high energy to this role. I don't know that he improved a lot of his lines, but it felt like he did. They had a very similar style of humor that you expect from him, and I think that really helped the movie out. If Kevin Hart fans are what this movie is trying to appeal to, it makes sense to just let him do his thing. Ice Cube on the other hand, not so great at the comedy. He is often trying to play the straight man to Harts more eccentric personality. He does get a few opportunities to be humorous, but he doesn't have the comedic presence that Hart does. More often then not, he seemed to be the reason the movie was dragging. If you are unfamiliar with Hart, and want to know if this movie is for you, this should help some. In the movie Hart's best friends are his Video Game buddies. One of which simply goes by his gamer tag Assface23, even outside of the game. Hart goes by TheBlackHammer, and goes into great detail as to the meaning of that name, with sound effects and hand gestures. If stupid humor like that doesn't appeal to you, or if you just don't get TheBlackHammer joke, you may want to skip this movie.

There is a story, and it involves Ice Cube trying to catch a big time criminal he has been chasing for years. I think he may be selling drugs, but to be honest I don't remember. Nobody knows who the guy is, or what he even looks like. They have no real clues or leads to help them. So when Hart starts accidentally coming up with information thanks to his video game knowledge and other means that Ice Cube does not approve of, it creates more friction between them. Hart is trying to prove himself to a guy who has already decided he is not worth anything. While I felt they were trying to get me to care about that, I never could bring myself to do that. Ice Cube was unlikable for most of the film, and I just wanted Hart to tell him off and get married without his blessing. And while they tried to add in a story, they didn't add in a good one. There are a few twists and turns, but after the first 30 minutes or so I stopped caring. It become fairly predictable, right down to the ending. That being said I did enjoy the humor, and found myself laughing through out most of the film. While one scene in particular went on for far to long, the movie in general kept a good pace.

There is a blooper real at the end of it, check it out. It was enjoyable, and showed that Ice Cube is a funny guy in real life. While I did enjoy the movie, I don't think I would watch it again. For a rental, it is not a bad option. Kevin Hart amuses me, and this movie showcases him with some great scenes. Trainbows, threatening children, androgynous bikers, you will find something to laugh at here. KICK MOVE!

No trailer this time, they all ruin some of the better parts of the film. Seems odd to show you those, as it would negate any real reason to watch said film....