RIDE ALONG

2013 / Director. Tim Story.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

I was in the mood for a "no-brainer" and when I watched RIDE ALONG that's exactly what I got. Ha. There's nothing new here. As the poster suggests this is just another carbon-copy, run or the mill buddy-cop flick. All of the typical genre conventions are in the usual place (the grumpy chef, the disobedient cop and the comical rookie). Movies like this are a dime a dozen and they're more often than not easily forgotten. RIDE ALONG ticked most of the right boxes for me. I was worried at first... Ice Cube was being Ice Cube and Kevin Hart was being a whiney little bitch... but the thing is that they both grew on me. Ice Cube's character hates his sister's fiance (who wants to be a cop) and takes him on a ride-along to scare the shit out of him and hopefully send him packing. The day becomes a series of blunders and eventually turns into a deadly undercover bust. The dynamics between these guys is good and by the time the film finished I was actually caught up in its charm. It's hard to fault Kevin Hart's character when he represents goodness in such an innocent and well intended way. He is surprisingly sweet... the action is okay but nothing special and the writing and direction is adequate. Adding a touch of class to the whole thing are players like John Lequizamo, Laurence Fishburne and Bruce McGill... and it's great to see Bryan Callen on screen. I love that guy. RIDE ALONG ain't no LETHAL WEAPON but it's a huge cut above COP OUT. Nothing new but not at all tedious.... and a sequel is on its way..... 

---