Get Hard - directed by Etan Cohen
Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T Nelson, Alison Brie, Paul Ben-Victor, Edwina Findley Dickerson, Erick Chavarria, T.I, John Mayer
Running Time: 100 minutes
Rated: R16 - Frequent profanity
The cynic in me wants to view the recent controversy over this movies alleged racial content as studio generated hype designed to give a boost to a movie with flagging hype but I'm sure it's the usual whinging from the usual places in effect.
This movie casts Will Ferrell as a wealthy businessman convicted of a raft of fraud charges and sentenced to serve ten years in prison.
Knowing that he will not survive hard time he recruits car washer Darnell (Kevin Hart) to toughen him up in preparation.
The problem is that Darnell has never been near a prison but plays along because he needs the $30,000 on offer for the service to pay for a new house in a safer school district.
It plays very heavily on racial stereotypes for sure but employing them is not the same as endorsing them.
My concern was that this would be a one joke flick but by setting Hart as a clean cut family man doing the wrong thing for the right reason it's a pretty decent premise ripe for comedy.
As someone who is largely indifferent to Ferrell's movies with the exception of an Anchorman or Stranger Than Fiction here and there I was surprisingly excited to check this one out.
The opening scenes in "Get Hard" get the story rolling lightning fast.
Ferrell's James is a man who seems to have everything- a cavernous mansion, loads of money, a flash car and a stunning wife (the gorgeous Alison Brie)
In the middle of a party to celebrate his engagement the FBI arrest him for fraud and embezzlement.
He has thirty days before his prison term starts.
It is this thirty day period that the movie focuses on.
This effectively means a series of set piece scenes in which Hart inflicts all manner of pain on Ferrell.
He is pepper sprayed, bullied, takes part in a fake riot and has to spend extended periods in a cell mocked up in the wine cellar of the mansion.
What becomes apparent very quickly is that the trailer had most of the best bits and what is left is just not funny enough.
I noticed three- maybe four- laughs at the screening I was at.
That is a pretty poor strike rate.
It's not boring and there are moments that elicit smiles but one laugh every twenty minutes is about three too few.
On the plus side the charges of racism are absurd.
It is Ferrell's character who is made to look stupid and any stereotypes on show are his and the humour is derived by how ridiculous his views are.
There is nothing nasty about his characters views - it is pure ignorance from a man who has a life shielded from reality.
I would have thought that the constant rape and dick jokes would have caused the controversy more than any racial offence.
A lack of laughs and an overuse of the same couple of jokes aside the key problem with this film for me is the poorly constructed plot.
I am not expecting a great story in a movie like this but how about one that makes sense?
It is glaringly obvious that James has been set up and by whom from the first ten minutes and it should have been to him also.
For a guy who effortlessly makes $28,000,000 in a day to impress a gold digging fiance he is remarkably dense in figuring out how the same system that he is so successful in has been used against him.
This is yet another case of the plot being knocked up to service the one joke premise.
A far better example of how this sort of movie can be executed is the very good and very funny "Horrible Bosses".
The first one of course- not the sequel that falls victim to the same poor scripting as "Get Hard" does.
"Get Hard" is difficult to recommend.
It is exactly the one joke film I feared that it would be.
Craig T Nelson has very little to do and that is a huge waste of a damned fine actor.
The chemistry between Hart and Ferrell is actually pretty good and who knows maybe they'll find a better vehicle for another team up.
Amazingly the cameo bits by John Mayer work really well - specially his Jimmy Fallon song scene.
With a more rounded script with better pacing this one could have been a winner.
There isn't enough joy to be sucked out of this one to make it any good at all.
As much as I enjoy watching Alison Brie on a large screen I like movies that make me laugh more and that was the only thing required of this one.
I didn't hate it nor did I find it offensive or racist.
I just didn't find it anywhere near funny enough.
RATING: 60 / 100
CONCLUSION: Too few laughs and a lazily cobbled together script betray this as the one joke premise it was no doubt pitched as.
Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T Nelson, Alison Brie, Paul Ben-Victor, Edwina Findley Dickerson, Erick Chavarria, T.I, John Mayer
Running Time: 100 minutes
Rated: R16 - Frequent profanity
The cynic in me wants to view the recent controversy over this movies alleged racial content as studio generated hype designed to give a boost to a movie with flagging hype but I'm sure it's the usual whinging from the usual places in effect.
This movie casts Will Ferrell as a wealthy businessman convicted of a raft of fraud charges and sentenced to serve ten years in prison.
Knowing that he will not survive hard time he recruits car washer Darnell (Kevin Hart) to toughen him up in preparation.
The problem is that Darnell has never been near a prison but plays along because he needs the $30,000 on offer for the service to pay for a new house in a safer school district.
It plays very heavily on racial stereotypes for sure but employing them is not the same as endorsing them.
My concern was that this would be a one joke flick but by setting Hart as a clean cut family man doing the wrong thing for the right reason it's a pretty decent premise ripe for comedy.
As someone who is largely indifferent to Ferrell's movies with the exception of an Anchorman or Stranger Than Fiction here and there I was surprisingly excited to check this one out.
The opening scenes in "Get Hard" get the story rolling lightning fast.
Ferrell's James is a man who seems to have everything- a cavernous mansion, loads of money, a flash car and a stunning wife (the gorgeous Alison Brie)
In the middle of a party to celebrate his engagement the FBI arrest him for fraud and embezzlement.
He has thirty days before his prison term starts.
It is this thirty day period that the movie focuses on.
This effectively means a series of set piece scenes in which Hart inflicts all manner of pain on Ferrell.
He is pepper sprayed, bullied, takes part in a fake riot and has to spend extended periods in a cell mocked up in the wine cellar of the mansion.
What becomes apparent very quickly is that the trailer had most of the best bits and what is left is just not funny enough.
I noticed three- maybe four- laughs at the screening I was at.
That is a pretty poor strike rate.
It's not boring and there are moments that elicit smiles but one laugh every twenty minutes is about three too few.
 |
| Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart - deserve better |
It is Ferrell's character who is made to look stupid and any stereotypes on show are his and the humour is derived by how ridiculous his views are.
There is nothing nasty about his characters views - it is pure ignorance from a man who has a life shielded from reality.
I would have thought that the constant rape and dick jokes would have caused the controversy more than any racial offence.
A lack of laughs and an overuse of the same couple of jokes aside the key problem with this film for me is the poorly constructed plot.
I am not expecting a great story in a movie like this but how about one that makes sense?
It is glaringly obvious that James has been set up and by whom from the first ten minutes and it should have been to him also.
For a guy who effortlessly makes $28,000,000 in a day to impress a gold digging fiance he is remarkably dense in figuring out how the same system that he is so successful in has been used against him.
This is yet another case of the plot being knocked up to service the one joke premise.
A far better example of how this sort of movie can be executed is the very good and very funny "Horrible Bosses".
The first one of course- not the sequel that falls victim to the same poor scripting as "Get Hard" does.
 |
| The cast includes the beautiful Alison Brie, Paul Ben-Victor, Craig T Nelson and rapper T.I |
It is exactly the one joke film I feared that it would be.
Craig T Nelson has very little to do and that is a huge waste of a damned fine actor.
The chemistry between Hart and Ferrell is actually pretty good and who knows maybe they'll find a better vehicle for another team up.
Amazingly the cameo bits by John Mayer work really well - specially his Jimmy Fallon song scene.
With a more rounded script with better pacing this one could have been a winner.
There isn't enough joy to be sucked out of this one to make it any good at all.
As much as I enjoy watching Alison Brie on a large screen I like movies that make me laugh more and that was the only thing required of this one.
I didn't hate it nor did I find it offensive or racist.
I just didn't find it anywhere near funny enough.
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