In a role that is essentially the same as the supporting one he plays in 21 Jump Street, Ice Cube plays a hard-nosed cop who brings his sister’s goofy boyfriend out on a day’s police work to see if he’s worthy of marrying her. Ride Along pairs Cube with current it comedian Kevin Hart, a team that apparently is perfect for the big screen. It’s all a bit predictable with how the dynamic of the odd couple plays out, but that doesn’t mean it’s not funny. It definitely is.
Hart’s incessant comedy builds the character past what could have been an annoying performance and into a likeable guy. He isn’t always able to keep the coolness level down enough though. The script presents the character as a bigger loser than Hart plays him as. Ice Cube proves the perfect foil. He can keep the tough guy persona through even the most ridiculous antics. He’s come a long way as an actor. I don’t anticipate seeing “Oscar nominee” in front of his name or anything, but he’s still vastly improved. Beyond the leads, smaller performances by John Leguizamo and Laurence Fishburne play out as middle of the road.
Like I mentioned earlier, the film’s biggest flaw is how incredibly predictable it is. Individual scenes stand out as memorable inside a plot that has been written countless times before. Even with a solid performance, Ice Cube comes across as less memorable than Hart. Hart is on a quick rise to super stardom and the success of Ride Along shows that. His scenes at a shooting range and imitating a crime boss are great moments to add to his reel. They’re well-timed and with a good amount of improvisation. Overall, it’s a solid effort.
Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.
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