Cinematic Releases: Get Hard Reviewed

Get Hard is the "comedy" of the week.

"Hey! Is this contrived
stereotypical black joke
funny yet?"

Get Hard needs to see a doctor for some little blue pills.

The typically awkward Will Ferrell and the mostly unfunny Kevin Hart star in this week's ludicrous offering, Get Hard. What could have been a silly premise turned into comedic gold is eerily similar to most bad SNL skits. It's overlong, unfunny, and painfully awkward with two actors that lack any heart or semblance of chemistry. If not for a few seconds of laugh out loud humor, Get Hard is a far cry from anything Ferrell has done in the past. Either his constant string of familiar dopey characters has grown tired or Kevin Hart just can't act, proving that (once again) all the funny bits are in the previews. 

With a cast featuring Alison Brie, Craig T. Nelson, and a slew of others, the best performance comes from non-actor, T.I.. He's the only one here that seems to give two seconds of thought to his character and assembles a spot on delivery each time he's on screen. From Nelson clumsily reading his predictable lines to Brie doing her bare minimum, every other person on screen is boring and lacks the charisma that could have brought Get Hard to a higher level. With Hart and Ferrell never locking in to any type of groove, the scenarios become irritating and rely too heavily on a slew of incidental rectal jokes. Ferrell has done much better. And Hart is amateurish at best. 

"I long for the days
of Step Brothers."

Get Hard proves to be a flaccid situational offering that makes me long for the days when Ferrell was pushing himself into new, sometimes dramatic territory. This has the feeling of an underdeveloped screenplay that provided Ferrell and Hart with a fat payday. Some of the prison training sequences are laughable at times, the sexual innuendo wears thin very fast, and the non-existent dynamic between the two stars is decidedly hard to watch. There is no connection between these guys and it's glaringly obvious from the start. 

Did I laugh? Yes. But it wasn't enough to make me suggest seeing this movie in the theater. If you can hold out, just wait for the rapidly approaching blu-ray. This is nothing but an overblown home video release that just so happens to star a couple popular funny guys that forgot why they're in the business. It would be an easy out to forsake the director on this one but it really seems like it boiled down to two dudes that never quite jived. 



-CG