“Ride Along” Aims for Generic Laughs, Hits the Mark (Movie Review) Posted by Ru Porter on 01/22/14 | Filed under Humor, Opinion, Movies, Ice Cube

Anyone who follows the movie industry knows mid-January releases should not be taken seriously. Hence the term “January slump,” and “Ride Along”, the latest addition to the buddy-cop genre, is no different. Starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, the screenplay finds Cube as James Payton, a hot-tempered detective with the Atlanta Police Department, while Hart is Ben Barber - a diminutive high-school security guard and avid video gamer with dreams of joining the force and marrying Payton’s sister Angela (played by the ever-so-gorgeous model Tika Sumpter).

The core of the plot is spent with Cube (Payton) attempting to dissuade Hart’s Barber from joining the academy, and even worse, convince him that he’s not man enough for Angela. So the two agree that if Hart (Barber) can make it through the next 24 hours on the force, Cube will quit cock-blocking and welcome him into the family. The twist? Hart doesn’t realize he’s being hazed, and "Ride Along" then becomes a cheaper version of “Training Day” meets “Rush Hour” with a lot less violence and way too many cheap laughs..

Here’s the thing about Black America’s favorite pint-sized comedian: his jokes are only funny when he’s completely uncensored and standing in front of an adult audience. Place him in any other setting, and eventually you can sense that he’s trying too hard. Now, in the case of Mr. O’Shea Jackson, it’s even harder to pay him any mind when all he does is glare and scowl at his partner – not to mention the fact that he’s known for saying “F*ck The Police”, and yet, many of his action roles ("All About The Benjamins", "21 Jump Street") have him working in you guessed it, law enforcement!

All that aside, there is one good thing that can be taken away from the script: playing video games can help you learn real-world skills – specifically “Call Of Duty”, which essentially left Kevin’s character with encyclopedic memory of military-styled weaponry, that he ultimately used to capture an arms dealer James Payton had been chasing for years.

Without giving away anymore of the plot, I’ll end by saying this: Was it an eventful ride? Sure. But would I have tagged along if I wasn’t writing about cinema for a living? Probably not. Spend your money accordingly.