Get Hard

After seeing 20 minutes of Soul Plane, I swore to myself that I would never see anything with Kevin Hart in it again; if I wanted to see a 4’2” dwarf on screen I’d simply watch the short little black man who causes havoc in Bad Santa or Friday instead. But Black people support one another no matter what the case is and it’s because of this that part of me still believes O.J. and R. Kelly are actually innocent.  Any Black man who walks around with a Zoro mask on has to be certifiably crazy and should be let off for that reason alone.

But back to my original point, I couldn’t hate on Hart forever, so I finally broke down and saw his movie Ride Along with Ice Cube; and while it was terrible, I found myself laughing quite a bit at the little leprechaun. So when I saw that he was teaming up with Will Ferrell for a movie and noticed that both of them would relatively have the reigns put on them, I allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic for its release.

Get Hard is a ridiculous comedy about James King (Ferrell), a successful stock trader who is about to be made partner in a large firm. His life is perfect as his boss is the father of his hot but greedy fiance’ and he owns a large mansion with multiple servants in the comforts of Bel Air. One day however, his world is turned upside down as he is arrested for committing fraud, a crime in which he claims he didn’t commit. The judge doesn’t agree with him and winds up sentencing him to 10 years in prison in San Quentin. So in order to prepare himself for what’s to come, he decides to hire Darnell (Hart), the man who has washed his car for years. He automatically assumes that this straight and narrow small business owner has been to jail simply because he’s black.

After a brief moment of being offended, Darnell decides to help James out because he offers him $30,000 to do so and this will help him get the down payment he needs to move his family to a better neighborhood and get his daughter in a safer school. The problem is that Darnell has no clue what life in prison is like so he reaches out to his cousin Russell (T.I.), who has actually been to prison for help.

This movie is silly much in the same sense that Old School was silly however that doesn’t mean it’s not fun. Early on there are a few stale jokes that fall flat but once Ferrell starts practicing his trash talking, you can tell that the director finally allows the comedians to incorporate their trademark styles into their characters.

Ferrell attempting to join Russell’s gang feels like something straight out of a SNL skit as he looks like a natural when it comes to watching girls twerk for him as he sips 40’s and smokes weed. The looks on his face alone when he’s dressed like a six foot Lil’ Wayne will have you in tears. And thankfully Hart isn’t yelling every five seconds as he usually does but he still does use his small physical stature to his comedic advantage as he allows himself to be used as a human dumbbell during James’s weight training.

One of the film’s funniest moments comes when Darnell effectively gives up on teaching James how to fight, so he takes him to a gay restaurant to practice his fellatio techniques as that’s the only was he sees him being able to survive in prison. You can’t help but cringe while laughing as James takes his new friend to the bathroom stall to pop his cherry so to speak. Only Ferrell would have the balls (no pun intended) to try something like this on screen.

I really hate to admit it but I actually wound up liking this movie; Hart and Ferrell mesh well together and they play off of their differences to perfection. It’s certainly not great but if you want mindless comedy, this is definitely for you. I rate Get Hard as FRESH!