And so the lackluster 2015 continues.
“Get Hard” stars Will Ferrell as a millionaire who is found guilty of fraud and bound for San Quentin prison, so he hires his car washer (Kevin Hart) to prep him for life behind bars. Etan Cohen makes his directorial debut.
Kevin Hart has never really been known for making great films. One could argue that his last film, “The Wedding Ringer”, which came out this past January, is the high point of his career but even that was pretty standard cinema. Still, when I saw he was going to pair up with funnyman Will Ferrell, I had high hopes. And that was my mistake.
The premise for “Get Hard” is by itself pretty funny, if not simplistic. A rich, pampered man is sentenced to a maximum security prison and hires a minority to teach him how to survive simply because he assumes he had been to prison; done with the right people it could’ve worked. But instead the film is overlong and stretched thin, which makes sense since two of the film’s three screenwriters write for the sketch show “Key & Peele”, and they aren’t sure how to creative a constantly flowing narrative longer than four minutes.
Many of the jokes in “Get Hard” are just either just so simple or can be seen coming from a mile away. Obviously race and rape jokes are to be expected whenever jail is the subject of a plot and some of Ferrell’s one-liners on the subjects work, but all too often I just found myself rolling my eyes.
Speaking of Ferrell, I’m really confused as to why he continues to make R-rated films. It can be argued that all of his worst films are rated R (“The Campaign”, “Semi-Pro”, and even “Step Brothers”), and for no real reason other for him to be able to say the f-bomb.
Rapper T.I. has the best lines in the movie as the head of a gang that Hart recruits to get Ferrell protected on the inside, and Hart gives the film a few shots of energy, but by the final act of the movie you really just want it to be over with.
I laughed a couple times during “Get Hard”, including once hysterically, but with the talent involved this should have resulted in a better product. This is one of Ferrell’s worst films, and come December I doubt I’ll even remember this thing exists.
If you’re looking for a breezy springtime comedy then unfortunately this is not going to fill your void for a comedy requires, well, comedy. And while “Get Hard” is good for a few chuckles, it isn’t anywhere near as entertaining as it could, and should, have been.
Critics Rating: 4/10
Variety
