Ride Along (2014) Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo, Bruce McGill, Tika Sumpter, Bryan Callen, Laurence Fishburne Movie Review

Ride Along (2014)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kevin Hart in Ride Along (2014)

24 Hrs

Security guard Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) has a problem, he is dating the gorgeous Angela Payton (Tika Sumpter) and Angela's brother is tough as nails cop, James Payton (Ice Cube) who is always in trouble with his superior, Lt. Brooks (Bruce McGill) because of his rule breaking. To try and prove he is worthy of marrying Angela, Ben applies to the police academy and agrees to go on a 24 hour ride along with James. Whilst James tries to use his time with Ben to make him feel inferior and no good for either Angela or the academy the two end up getting a lead on a case that James had been working for years involving the mysterious Omar (Laurence Fishburne).

If they had made "Ride Along" 20 years ago I reckon Martin Lawrence would have been cast in the Ben Barber role, 30 years ago it would have been Eddie Murphy. Yes what I am saying is that Kevin Hart's part in "Ride Along" is as cliche as they come, the fast talking fool who gets to come good by the time the movie ends. But of course there is the part that Ice Cube plays and I can't but help thing of Nick Nolte alongside Eddie Murphy but with Ice Cube playing it a lot cooler. So yes what I am saying is that "Ride Along" is nothing new, it is just reworking the odd couple, buddy cop storyline for a new generation who whilst might like the humour of say Lawrence and Murphy want some thing current and cooler.

Ice Cube in Ride Along (2014)

And yes "Ride Along" entertains even if I could see pretty much every gag coming before it was delivered. I can say the same for the slim storyline which provides the vehicle for all the comedy as the twists when they arrive were obvious long before they ever showed their plain faces. In fairness the storyline was never the focus of the movie and the buddy, odd couple comedy is what the movie is about, nothing more nothing less.

What this all boils down to is that "Ride Along" is really just a 2014 version of movies which have been done many times before, targeting a current audience who whilst maybe having watched those older movies want something cooler and modern.


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