Thursday, January 16, 2014

Ride Along Review - 2½ Stars

Kevin Hart adds hilarious energy to everything he does.  “Ride Along” pairs him with Ice Cube for a standard issue mismatched buddy comedy.  Kevin wants to marry Ice Cube’s sister.  And since Ice Cube is a cop, Kevin decides he’ll join the force too.  Of course Ice Cube is a grizzled veteran and of course he wants the would be rookie to fail so off they go for a day of ride along and of course everything that can go wrong does.  Hart’s encounters include a three-foot tall kid with a smart mouth on him and a trip to the gun range where a particularly strong rifle has a kick that throws him across the room.   Hart’s short man bluster plays perfectly against Ice Cube’s glower.  And it doesn’t take a genius to guess they solve a big case together and everything turns out great.  “Ride Along” won’t win the Oscar but it will make you laugh.  Hey sometimes that’s enough.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Easy comedy.  is it entertaining?  Funny.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Just for the fun of it.