So, Ice Cube plays a cop. Not the most original thing you’ll have ever heard and thats even before you realise he’s just an angry Ice Cube. Lets be honest, Cube plays angry incredibly naturally and up against Kevin Hart, it works well.
Ride Along sees a security guard (Kevin Hart) apply to the Police Academy (not that one…) and finds himself on a 24-hour patrol with James (Cube) to prove that he is worthy of marrying Angela, James’ sister. Yes, as predictable as you would imagine. Actually make that more predictable than you could ever imagine. However, its not all bad here.
Kevin Hart has got some serious heat (as they’d say in Hollywood) at the moment and this showcases his talents. For those not so familiar with Hart, think Chris Rock intellect mixed with some Chris Tucker style vocals. In other words, he is incredibly watchable and likeable. Here, he cements himself as a fast talking, likeable character with almost immeasurable personality. He plays off Cube rather well, and Cube, as mentioned, at this stage in his career is just playing Ice Cube. Likeable, gruff and grumpy but always watchable.
What lets Ride Along down is the story. Besides the predictability of the whole thing, and trust me, you will sigh on numerous occasions as the plot is so obvious,scenes just seem to drag on forever.While it tries to be a bit more than a straight shooting comedy, it attempts to bring a bit more to the table and more often than not it fails and as a consequence it also fails at the funny side. You will be hard pushed to find a few moments where you will laugh out loud, let alone muster up a cheesy grin. Look, its not all bad, but many of the jokes fail to deliver and only for the chemistry between Cube and Hart this would be an out and out disaster.
While not without its faults, Ride Along is just about watchable and it does entertain to some degree. Theres worse out there!
