James (played by Will Farrell) is an investment banker who is framed in a fraud scandal and now scheduled to serve time in prison, San Quentin to be exact. So in order to prepare for his time in jail, he enlists Darnell (played by Kevin Hart) to ready him for life behind bars.
Kevin Hart is routinely hit or miss with me. And I know Will Farrell is hit or miss for a lot of people but for me he is normally a hit. Even still, I am usually wary about comedy team ups because often enough the results are generally disappointing. Not to mention, Kevin Hart has had a string of movies where he teams up with someone so it’s beginning to feel stale. What’s next for him? He’s helped with cops, wedding grooms, and now a soon to be prisoner. It’s like he’s the male Melissa McCarthy. I can’t blame him or her for taking these opportunities and striking while the iron is hot and America loves them. We can be a fickle bunch when it comes to the entertainment industry. But I still want a good movie.
The premise of this one reminded me of Rob Schenider in Big Stan (2007) where he had to go to prison and spent time prepping for it through learning martial arts and other…helpful techniques to get him by. After watching Get Hard I do think they watched that film for inspiration but this wasn’t a complete carbon copy.
I do give Kevin Hart credit in that he has good chemistry with whomever he works with. I liked the team up with Farrell. I wasn’t sure how much I would laugh because I honestly didn’t laugh once during the trailers. But in the actual film there were several funny moments. I think it could have been stronger and there could have been more, but I’m pleased enough that it exceeded my expectations. Farrell has a reputation for being very over-the-top, but his character here was tame in comparison to some of his past roles. In past works Hart comes off as trying too hard (ie: Think Like a Man Too) so he is more silly than funny, but thankfully that’s not the case here.
Overall, it delivers on being funny but it’s not for the easily offended. For an R-Rating it’s not as “hard” (pun intended) as it could have been, especially considering the subject matter, but it gets the job done if you want to laugh for a couple of hours and you’re familiar with what these actors bring to the table.