Orlando Lens
By Nicholas Ware
Ride Along could star anyone else. In fact, it was meant to. The project was originally pitched with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the Ice Cube role and Ryan Reynolds in the Kevin Hart role. However, as films, tend to, the project morphed into what we see today, a star vehicle for the still-rising Hart and the well-established Cube with a director (Tim Story) who had already worked with both in Think Like A Man and Barbershop respectively. Sadly, even with a writing spit-shine by the supremely talented Jason Mantzoukas (a comedic actor known best as Raffi on The League and as one of the hosts of the How Did This Get Made? podcast), Ride Along simply manages to be a very familiar experience whose appeal will rest almost entirely on how the viewer receives the comedy of Kevin Hart.
Personally, I've been very impressed with Hart. I'm less interested in his stand-up, which is too energy-heavy for me--like a tiny African-American Dane Cook--but he blew me away with his hosting job on SNL last March. He was one of the few first-time hosts I had seen that seemed a natural at live sketch comedy; if NBC had announced he was joining the cast permanently I would have been ecstatic. Naturally, Hart has more lucrative ventures available to him: he's slowly becoming a movie star. Ride Along is too forgettable to do any artistic damage to Hart's ascent and it may even end up being a surprise hit due to its easy digestibility, but it's also not the kind of project that I'd like to see him pursue in the future. Ride Along is too simplistic and expected for someone as exciting and unique as Hart.
Personally, I've been very impressed with Hart. I'm less interested in his stand-up, which is too energy-heavy for me--like a tiny African-American Dane Cook--but he blew me away with his hosting job on SNL last March. He was one of the few first-time hosts I had seen that seemed a natural at live sketch comedy; if NBC had announced he was joining the cast permanently I would have been ecstatic. Naturally, Hart has more lucrative ventures available to him: he's slowly becoming a movie star. Ride Along is too forgettable to do any artistic damage to Hart's ascent and it may even end up being a surprise hit due to its easy digestibility, but it's also not the kind of project that I'd like to see him pursue in the future. Ride Along is too simplistic and expected for someone as exciting and unique as Hart.
But, honestly, there's very few instances where this sub-genre has been able to be particularly interesting. It's been successful, as the Rush Hour films proved (even while essentially being the same movie three times). And every so often there's a truly amazing take on the buddy cop formula (Hot Fuzz is probably the pinnacle of self-aware versions). But aside from last summer's The Heat, which succeeded because it went far into the R-rated territory that Ride Along never sees, buddy cop comedies have simply fallen flat. Ride Along is similarly deflated. Outside of Hart, none of the cast seems interested in bring anything more than basic competence to their roles. Ice Cube has no real swagger or charisma in his role. John Leguizamo and Bryan Callen, both who have legitimate comedy backgrounds, manage to play supporting characters that are incredibly unfunny. Tika Sumpter, as Hart's girlfriend/Cube's sister, is pretty but ends up playing a Gabrielle Union Jr. character that has only a fleeting moment of importance as anything other than a cog in the plot and a nice piece of eye candy.
I suppose the nicest thing I can say about Ride Along is that I wasn't bored. I wasn't excited either, but the movie managed to fill the time nicely. It's nearly the perfect length and runs through the acts at the right time; escalation happens when it needs to happen and the ending-after-the-ending doesn't drag. There's even a nice pay-off of an early gag that ends up being important to the plot, which is a sign of tight writing. Yet, the film leaves no impression. It simply washes over the viewer. It's ready-made for a weekend afternoon on cable, and that's not a compliment.
I can't recommend you go out and see Ride Along unless you have a strong desire to support Hart in his quest to become a leading man. There's simply nothing in this movie that demands urgency from the viewer in going to watch it or while watching it. It's fluff, it's fine, it's whatever. This entire review has petered out with the same lack of intensity that...
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Sorry, dozed off. Anyway, Ride Along. Meh. Not ewww, but meh.
Ride Along opens today at most area multiplexes. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, sexual content, and brief strong language. Run time 1 hour 40 minutes.