In an effort to impress his girlfriend and gain the acceptance of his brother in law James (Ice Cube), high school security guard Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) endeavors to fulfil a lifelong dream of becoming a police officer. Unimpressed by Ben’s care-free demeanor, hard-as-nails cop James grants him one day in the field to prove his worth as an officer and a man. Together, they get involved in a violent case of arms smuggling and corruption on a grander scope than they’d imagined.
Ride along (Story , 2013) seemingly started as a fresh take on a tired genre. Despite the uninspired character of James, who never is allowed to be anything more than ‘cool’, the character of Ben was given more depth. His ambitions are believable, his relationship with his girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter) has certain chemistry, and his hobby of competitive gaming is rather unique.
Sadly, it takes no more than ten minutes for Ride along to succumb to clichés. The banter between James and Ben is the main focal point of the film, but the combination of a veteran and rookie cop has been done so often and so much better before that one is left to wonder how this film could have been made, let alone be rated as exceptionally high as to warrant a reign at the box office upon its release.
Kevin Hart delivers his lines in his trademark high-speed squeal, making it very easy for the film to get annoying very quickly. Some jokes do hit their mark, and in certain moments of intensity the hyper-activity may cause a smile, but the incessant remarks range mostly from banalities to lazy racial stereotypes. Combined with the blank meaninglessness that is Ice Cube, the film is carried by a very lackluster duo, indeed.
The film’s plot is as generic as the characters that inhabit it. The case of smuggling and corruption has not only been done before, a very large part of the surprise reveal of who the mysterious ‘Omar’ is, is spoiled by the appearance of a major actor’s name in the opening credits.
Ride along is not necessarily awful, it is simply pointless.
AREA 555 