Ride Along sees James (Kevin Hart), a pint sized school security guard finally get his placement in the Atlanta police academy. With his prospective career, he finally feels as though he is ready to propose to his long-time girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter). But, before he can do that, he must get the blessing of Angela’s older brother, the near-rogue street tough Ben Barber (Ice Cube).
With this in mind, Ben invites James on a 24 hour ‘ride along’, to prove his worthiness as a cop, and as a man who can take care of Angela. All the while, Ben and his partners are on the lookout for the never before seen crime kingpin Omar.
An almost comedic reboot of Training Day, which is outright alluded to throughout the film, Ride Along comes in with what you might expect from a film starring Hart and Cube. Hart brings his comedic humour to the silver screen, which is somewhat more adult themed than what Cube has done before. Cube plays the Denzel role, albeit not nearly as menacing, and Hart isn’t quite the Ethan Hawke, but the attempt is there.
As a comedy, there are a few laughs to be had, but not nearly as much as you would expect from this kind of film. As Cube takes Hart out for some run-of-the-mill annoyance calls to try and bore Hart’s James, there were plenty of opportunities to turn these into actual comedic bouts.
But Hart’s interrogation of a minor, as well as his dealing with some loitering bikers, fall flat. Cube is nearly funnier in his lack of caring what happens to Hart, but only slightly. And of course there’s a scene in a strip club.
There are some twists, if you want to call them that, and in the end we have an opportunity to deal with the crime ghost that is Omar, but the film just seems to trundle along to this moment, as there is nothing really noteworthy that happens over the course of the hundred minutes.
As predictable as the storyline is, it still seems to be a bit of a bore and neither Hart’s high pitched shouts of fear nor Cube’s angry face could cure this. Again, there are some laugh moments, such as Hart dealing with a shotgun for the first time, or in the opening moments when Hart is playing an online shooting game, and interacting with his co-gamers.
But, outside of these, it is all just a little bit forgettable. As you may have expected, Hart is the comedic runner of this film, so unless you are a devout fan of his, Ride Along may not be one for you.
Chris Droney