I think it’s safe to say that when you call your movie “Get
Hard,” you’re begging for audiences to go in with low expectations. It’s the
kind of title that screams, “This is the only part of the movie we put any kind
of effort in.” So, I went into Etan Cohen’s new comedy expecting to laugh maybe
a few times—mostly out of politeness—and then just wait for it to end so I
could go home and write my scathing review.
To my astonishment, “Get Hard” is not only funny but consistently funny, a major plus. It’s
often difficult to sustain comedic momentum over the course of a feature length
film, particularly when the comedy isn’t striving for much. “Get Hard” isn’t a
revolutionary picture, it acknowledges and sort of plays around with common
racial—both black and white—ethnic and cultural stereotypes but it’s not out to
change the world, nor is it a scathing satire. Instead it simply wants to use
those stereotypes to tell raunchy jokes. And it does. And it had me laughing…a
lot. There’s something to be said for that.
The movie’s greatest strength is the first ever paring of
comedic titan Will Ferrell and relatively new comedian Kevin Hart—although, up
until now he’s been in a string of mainstream comedies and checking his IMDB
page he shows no signs of stopping—a pairing that’s superb. One I hope to see
more of in the future.
Ferrell plays James, a doormat executive at a stock company
who’s framed for fraud and sentenced to ten years in a maximum-security prison.
Patronizing and wimpy, naïve and idiotic—James is a standard issue Ferrell
character and watching “Get Hard” you’ll be reminded of his countless other
movies. However, much like other well known comedic personas—Jim Carrey, Jonah
Hill, to name a few—Ferrell is damn good at what he does and here he makes it look
effortless. The square, technical way he delivers lines, his childlike
ignorance towards urban culture and his penchant for having mini freak-outs and
bouts of pathetic weeping is impeccable. And when matched with Hart’s own
comedic persona, it’s even better.
In general, I think Hart is hit and miss. In movies such as
“Think Like a Man” and the horrendous “Ride Along” he mainly plays the
hyperbolic sidekick. Kicking and screaming, jumping up and down like a peppy
dog. It can be funny and it can wear thin real quickly. In Cohen’s film Hart
plays a slightly toned down, more matured version of this persona, one that
proves to be refreshing. He’s Darnell, a working class family man that’s hired
to teach James how to be tough in prison to avoid anal rape—a stereotype that
provides the basis for a large majority of the jokes—the only problem is,
Darnell isn’t exactly the tough type and is in some ways just as wimpy as
James. I wouldn’t necessarily call him the straight man of the duo but he’s not
the clown either. In fact both actors take turns being the clown and the straight
man.
Together, the two have phenomenal chemistry—their comic
personas perfectly bouncing off the other. Just when you start to get tired of
one, the other swoops in to save the scene. For the most part Cohen doesn’t let
each of the individual set pieces go on for too long. Even during those
extended sequences where Ferrell and Hart were clearly given the go ahead to
improvise off one another for as long as possible, I never felt fatigued. Overall, the script by Cohen, Jay Martel and
Ian Roberts keeps the focus on the central duo, with little attention to the
actual plot. One of the worst offenses a comedy can make is getting bogged down
in plot exposition at the expense of jokes, especially when the plot is generic
and predictable. It’s pretty clear right away who sets up James.
With all that being said, the movie isn’t perfect and not
just because of the normal flaws—scenes going on for too long easy gross out
humor, an action filled finale etc.—that plague comedies like this. The movie
can be homophobic at times, mainly in regards to James’ fear of getting raped
in prison, as well as misogynistic. The only prominent female character is
James’ finance Alissa (Alison Brie) whose sole character traits are “gold
digger” and “sex object.” It’s not completely surprising to see homophobia and
misogyny in a comedy like this but it’s worth noting and it’s the main reason
why “Get Hard” never rises above being a solid raunchy comedy.
Even so, I still can’t deny the fun time I had at “Get
Hard.” The picture isn’t destined to be a comedy classic and it certainly isn’t
going to satisfy everyone’s taste, but it satisfied mine. Any comedy that can
keep me laughing for its entire duration is worth the time in my book.
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