I always try to walk into a movie with an open mind without having predetermined thoughts going in. It’s not something that can be achieved every single time, though. Just like having high expectations, low expectations can have an impact on how you feel. I wasn’t looking forward to Ride Along. Actually, was borderline dreading it. I enjoy Keven Hart, but a little of him goes a long way. When he gets in and gets out its funny. I find when he goes on too long it starts to lose steam quickly, but that may be solely me. Plus this is a buddy cop movie, and I knew it was going to be predictable, not even attempting to avoid the most obvious clichés – I was proven right. My initial worry however surprisingly turned out to be the best aspect of the whole movie.

A crime lord named Omar came out of no where building a presence in Atlanta. Detective James (Ice Cube) has been working hard with his sources trying to identify and take Omar down before he does some serious damage. Effort hasn’t been enough, and the elusive mastermind keeps evading justice. In the middle of all this, Jame’s sister, Angela (Tamika Sumpter), is beginning to get close to getting engaged to her boyfriend Ben (Kevin Hart). He is a high school guard who feels he’s good enough to be a real cop. James being the protective brother that he is, wants to dissuade Ben from being a cop and possibly scare Ben away from his sister by taking him on a ride along. As expected things don’t go according to plan.

I’m far from a fan of either Tim Story (director – Fantastic Four) or Phil Hay (writer – Clash of the Titans). The biggest fault here was the story. It was so predictable. Right off the bat I could guess what was going to happen, which characters were going to do what, and even exact lines being said. Went on too long to boot pulling a Return of the King having multiple endings. After how the villain was set up, he ultimately was a let down not providing a spark like he had the capability to if reveled in a better manner. The dynamic between James (Ice Cube) and Ben (Kevin Hart) was handled well for the most part. There were a few scenes that worked. However, it was no RushHour. I feel the writers and producers want another body cop franchise similar to that. Hope this doesn’t get sequels.

With it number one at the box office, we probably are going to hear a sequel is in the works soon. If that is the case, at the minimum a new writer is needed. Hart and Cube are good, but aren’t enough to carry a franchise on their own. As far as the jokes, many hit. The ones that didn’t pan out never caused a negative impact, which is rare. The central issue is that quite a few went on past where it should. I blame marketing for a couple of laughs that had potential to pack a bigger punch. Many of the funniest parts are in the trailer, and I’ve seen that trailer too many times to remember. Another case of trailers giving more away then they should.

Kevin Hart did a fine job. He runs the show and got me to begin to care for his character through his acting; it wasn’t the writing that’s for sure. Hart had great timing delivering solid laughs fairly consistently. Nothing groundbreaking, but still hits the funny bone. Puts the movie on his back. Ice Cube isn’t pushing himself past his limits like he occasionally does. He’s alright, does no harm. The best part of the performance comes from the chemistry with Hart. They start out bland and pretty uninteresting. Both pick it up in the second half and finally start to click on all cylinders. When you get down to it the remainder of the cast is non-existent, wasted (John Leguizamo), or poor.

When you truly get down to it, Ride Along is simply a vehicle for Kevin Hart to run with. If you enjoy him, then you’ll find some nice and funny scenes in the mix. If you don’t though, stay away. There will be absolutely nothing to see. Ride Along has extremely poor qualities, but does have its moments here and there. As a backhanded compliment, this is the best movie I’ve seen in January. The month outdid itself providing lots of awful movies. Ride Along wasn’t atrocious by any stretch of the imagination, just a silly comedy not trying to do anything new or special. It’s not something I’d strongly recommend, but if you love Kevin Hart, go ahead and check it out. Comedy is subjective and certain people could find it even more humorous than I did.