Ride Along
(2014)Propose to the cop's sister? Rookie mistake.
Buddy-cop action comedy from the director of Barbershop starring Kevin Hart as a wannabe policeman preparing to propose to his girlfriend. But first, he has to go on a 24-hour patrol with her hard-edged law-enforcing brother (Ice Cube) in order to get his blessing and prove his worthiness.
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Directed by Tim Story
Starring Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo, Tika Sumpter, Bruce McGill, Bryan Callen
Written by Greg Coolidge, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, Jason Mantzoukas
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
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Ride Along
The Press Reviews
18%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Hart’s manic comic invention and textured persona elevates it somewhere beyond the level of pleasing mediocrity onto the slightly more distinguished realm of the agreeable-enough time waster. Full Review
Turns out to be something like a comic riff on "Training Day." Full Review
A lazy and listless buddy-cop action-comedy. Full Review
Saddled with an uninvolving plot, and largely content to coast on cop-movie clichés. Full Review
Romantic chemistry is rare in the movies, comic chemistry rarer still, and sadly there isn't much on offer in this action buddy comedy. Full Review
Can you be physically assaulted by a comedy? Anything might seem possible after enduring Kevin Hart's jackhammer performance... Full Review
The Pesci-in-Lethal-Weapon premise is spun out into a feature-length jamboree of minor laughs and clunkiness. Full Review
BY Giles Hardie Flicks Writer
Are you Australian? Then apparently you won't go and see Ride Along. That's according to distributors who think cinema-goers outside of North America won't watch a comedy predominantly starring African American actors. It's a theory worth testing, but it will require a higher quality effort to do so.... More
Kevin Hart plays Ben Barber, who at 5' 4” is a small man with big ambitions as well as a huge reputation in cyberspace for his shoot ‘em up skills under the moniker Black Hammer. A high school security guard by day, he aspires to be a 'real' cop and to propose to his girlfriend. When he gains admission to the police academy it’s his chance to impress his potential brother-in-law, played by Ice Cube, a police detective who is about as real as it gets. Cue the titular ride-along as Black Hammer gets to test his skills in the real world, and inevitably against real criminals.
The problem here has nothing to do with race and everything to do with genre. From Beverly Hills Cop to Police Academy, the low-intellect cop-comedy is a winning recipe that has largely disappeared from our screens, but those famous examples, alongside Lethal Weapon and other more action heavy cousins, have left big shoes to fill. Comedically, Ride Along is more equipped for the kids' sneakers section. The jokes - centred on Hart's ineptitude to the task at hand as events spiral into organised crime – too often take the most predictable path.
With neither enough action nor comedy, Ride Along falls between the cracks to be vaguely enjoyable but largely forgettable.Hide
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