Get Hard

Get Hard

Starring Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T. Nelson, Alison Brie

Directed by Etan Cohen

The Story:
James King (Will Ferrell) is the epitome of high white class.  He's got a huge mansion with another one on the way, he's got a smoking hot fiancee (Alison Brie), and his future father-in-law Martin (Craig T. Nelson) just named him co-partner in his company.

Then he's placed under arrest for fraud and embezzlement.  He's sentenced to ten years in prison, and is given thirty days to get his affairs in order.  James, who proclaims his innocence, turns to Darnell (Kevin Hart), his car washer who he mistakenly believes has been in jail, to train him how to make it on the inside.

Darnell has no concept of what it's like to be in jail, but he needs James' money to expand his car washing business and move his family into a better neighborhood and better school for his young daughter, so he "trains" James in how to fight, speak and act toward hostile inmates, as well as trying to clear James's name.

The Synopsis:
When I saw this was directed by Etan Cohen, I got excited, but then I realized it wasn't Ethan Coen, the famed director of "No Country for Old Men," but rather Etan Cohen, the writer of..."Men in Black 3."  Knowing this going in, I wasn't expecting gold, and I didn't get any.

Comedies for me are the hardest to enjoy.  I personally don't find many of them funny.  They follow the same problematic formula - crude jokes, making fun of stereotypes, dealing with a monumental problem, having a dark truth revealed that separates friends, reconciliation, uniting together to stop a common foe, going to extreme lengths to solve a simple problem, the end.  In this regard, "Get Hard" hits every point as eloquently as an elephant trying to perform an ice skating show.

You can already tell what's going to happen, how it'll all end up, and there's no surprises thrown along the way.  Once again, this is a staple in the comedy genre, so the film relies on two aspects: the actors and the comedy itself.

First the comedy.  There were some good laugh-out-loud moments, but they were few and far between.  Yes, everyone gets the double entendre  behind the title, we don't have to be mentioned of it twenty times in the film.  The first time was funny enough, but as joke after joke hits the audience like a knockout punch from Mike Tyson, it gets less and less entertaining.  The best jokes, as it usually goes, are found in the trailer, while the remainder of the film is filled with haphazard attempts at humor.

Now the actors.  On paper, this should be a no-brainer.  Will Ferrell is one of today's funniest actors, from "Saturday Night Live" to iconic films such as "Old School" and "Anchorman."  Kevin Hart has raised his comedic stock lately in knockout comedies like "Ride Along."  These two should bring the laughs in droves, and have the audience literally rolling on the floor with laughter.

Instead, we get the same ole same, lamebrained comedy that we've unfortunately come to expect.  With Ferrell, he's got an impressive comedic pedigree, but for each "Old School" there's "Semi-Pro," and for each "Anchorman" there's "Blades of Glory."  For him, either it's a total hit out of the park, or a foul.  While "Get Hard" can't be categorized to either extreme, it still leans more toward his better work than not, but that's not saying much.  He portrays the same type of character - someone who's incredibly naive, doesn't seem to understand the meaning of his words, and is unintentionally provocative. 

Kevin Hart actually holds the film together, and if he wasn't in this film, it would've been a disaster.  His sense of humor and comedic timing is very impressive, and he steals the show with every scene he's in, surprisingly eclipsing the modern king of comedy. 

It may sound like I'm being harsh, but I still enjoyed "Get Hard" for what it was, I just wasn't overly impressed by it, especially boasting the cast it had.

The Summary:
With a few laugh-out-loud moments, "Get Hard" was a failing attempt at bringing together two comedic powerhouses, who end up knocking out the audience with boredom.

The Score: B