James King (Will Ferrell) is a multimillionaire investor who gets arrested and charged with fraud.
About to be sent to San Quentin, King hires the man who cleans his car, Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart), to prep him for prison.
Lewis has 30 days to help King “get hard.”
We say, “It’s one long, bad joke.”
HOWE: I was having mixed feelings about watching Get Hard. The reason is that Rob Schneider had a movie out in ‘07 called Big Stan and the comparisons between the two are uncanny.
The only difference between them is that Ferrell doesn’t spend half the time in prison like Schneider does. I guess the main question should be, “Is Get Hard funny?” It does have its moments, but they are few and far between. Whereas, with Big Stan I found myself laughing throughout.
TAYLOR: Once you eliminate the idea that the fear of being raped by a bunch of dudes in prison is funny, you are left with calisthenics, solitude, and gangs, all of which also fall under the category of things that aren’t particularly hilarious.
Get Hard is a film about a soft, spoiled white man who thinks a black man can help him toughen up for prison because “statistically speaking, it’s a sure bet he’s gone to prison.”
Ferrell is his usual weird self, with unorthodox cursing and seeming ignorance of appropriate behaviour and decision.
I am happy to report that Hart wasn’t his usual whiny self, having to play a character required to butch up, so that King will believe he’s hard. But this is a film for children who still giggle at their own privates.
Tell us, Mr. Howe, what was the difference between what made you laugh in Big Stan that did not make you laugh in Get Hard? I didn’t laugh at all.
HOWE: Slapstick, plain and simple. In Big Stan, Schneider’s character is learning to survive by breaking wood with just his middle finger or harden his body by getting smacked with a flaming stick by David Carradine. Whereas, Ferrell tried to pull off very similar scenes. To me it just didn’t work. And I can’t believe the loudest laughs of the evening came when he was in a toilet stall attempting to be amorous with another man.
I’m very disappointed at the type of humour he seems to have lowered himself to. His last few movies have been pretty poor by his standard. Hart, on the other hand, delivered one of his best performances.
TAYLOR: I agree, Hart was the stronger of the two, but it’s still not enough. Get Hard flops over.
– Taylor gives Get Hard 1.5 subliminal penises out of 5.
– Howe gives it 2 Hart-felt performances out of 5.
Reel Reviews with Brian Taylor and Peter Howe runs in The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.
