Starring: Kevin Hart, Ice Cube, Tika Sumpter
Wanting to be a cop, Ben (Hart) works as security at a local high school and spends his free-time with FPS video games. His invitation to begin police training doesn't go down too well with his potential brother-in-law James (Cube), a veteran cop who isn't too keen on Ben marrying his sister, Angela (Sumpter). Eager to make a good impression, Ben agrees with James to go on a "ride along" accompanying James through various investigations, including a case against a dangerous and mysterious crimes boss named Omar.
The buddy cop genre is old hat. A time-tested formula that runs its course through decades of formulas and is one that audiences may be the most savvy about, given he repetition of the genre's conventions present in these films. Ride Along doesn't offer much in the way of originality and is far from the funniest film of its kind, but the film does tread its way at least inoffensively through the old routine.
As a performer, Kevin Hart will probably reside in the "love him or hate him" file, with an obvious comparison to Chris Tucker (especially, in this case, given Tucker's work in the Rush Hour films (1998 - 2007)) and for all his shrill squeaking, Hart can be a grating presence. However, there's an underlying core that's barely glimpsed in this film that shows that he may have more potential playing more straight-laced roles.
Ice Cube on the other hand, may not be the most dynamic actor of all time but is extremely well-suited to a role as a tough and unorthodox cop, even if his role here is little than just to stand back and look cool. Unfortunately the film falls flat with its supporting cast. You join James in not quite seeing what Tika Sumpter's attraction is to Ben, because we don't really see how she ticks as a character. As a fellow cop in the picture however, you can see how John Leguizamo (here not at his best) is going to turn out from the first moment he pops up on screen.
As far as comedy goes, the film lacks the banter of Lethal Weapon (1987) and is short on belly-laughs, but is far from the very worst that "comedy" is capable of. No fart jokes, no gay jokes and there is occasionally the spark of something spontaneous. The film also plays decently as a cop thriller. even if the central plot doesn't quite have the strength to support the more serious side of the film as a whole. Mostly, Ride Along is simply okay. It doesn't need repeating (although a sequel already seems possible) but there are worse films out there.
Next time, the return of the controversial director Lars Von Trier as Charlotte Gainsbourg examines her life of extreme sexuality in the two-part four-hour piece, Nymphomaniac.
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