Ride Along Movie Review

A hard-nosed loner cop with a penchant for breaking the rules. A loud-mouthed sidekick that does more wrong than right UNTIL the final reel where we see what he’s really made of. A generic plot recycled from the multitude of buddy-cop flicks before it, involving the elusive criminal and the cop’s last chance to nab him. Ride Along, quite simply, is the kind of movie that most critics love to hate.

This time, our hard-nosed cop goes by the name of James Payton, and is played by the man of eternal scowl, Ice Cube.  James has been chasing Omar, the Keyser Soze of Atlanta, for 3 years now…and he’s THIS close. Following the cop flick blueprints, he is forbidden from pursuing any further leads by his growly Captain (Bruce McGill, who has done his fair share of cop films).  Of course he has some cop assistance (John Leguizamo and Bryan Callen), but this is a guy who trusts no one.

Meanwhile, the reigning fast-talking champion of comedy, Kevin Hart, stars as Ben Barber. Ben is a good guy who spends more time gunning down inanimate foes in a Call of Duty-style online game, then he does preparing for his hopeful future in the Atlanta Police Department. Oh, and Ben also happens to be involved with Angela (Tika Sumpter), James’ sister.

When Angela begs him to give Ben a chance, James reluctantly agrees to take Ben with him – for one day only – to see if he’s got what it takes to become a real cop. James does his best to show Ben he’s simply not good enough, all the while pursuing leads on his master criminal obsession and, possibly, seeing the potential in Ben that Angela does.

Look, this is a cookie-cutter action pic template that you have seen numerous times before, there is no getting around it. If you have seen the trailer for Ride Along, you know exactly what you are getting and the film never deviates from your vision. But being what you expect, and following the ages old buddy-cop formula, does not make it a bad movie.

Ice Cube has this part down, he’s done it 100 times by now. For a guy as charismatic as he is, I often wish he would try the non-heavy role. Still, he does his job as straight man and plays well off of Hart and is more than willing to be the butt of the joke. The two develop an easy rapport fairly early and by the end of the film, even Ice Cube cracks a rare smile.

Speaking of, Kevin Hart did surprise me in this film. Watching every trailer, one could assume the fast-talking would reach screeching levels of annoyance. Not so. For the majority of the film, he does talk fast but manages to handle it in a more restrained way then, say, a Chris Tucker. Hart is obviously a gifted comedian and he has numerous opportunities in the film to showcase this, especially during a rousing shootout where Ben employs standard Call of Duty actions into the gunplay. Ride Along is the perfect film to take Hart to the next level of film stardom.

Director Tim Story has helmed such cinematic gold as The Fantastic Four…and The Fantastic Four 2. He also took the reins of Barbershop, so he has some comedy roots.  While Story has a solid eye for action scenes, yet he does let a few of the comedy bits hang on a bit too long, making this film no more than a minor memory in your film databank.

Like I said earlier, this is a movie critics love to hate, but this it was also never made for them. This was made for those of you looking for a fun time at the theater, with a little action and belly laughs mixed in. If that is what you want in your Saturday matinee, Ride Along will not disappoint you.

If $10 is the full price of admission, Ride Along is worth $5.50