I'll be honest, I've never been a Will Ferrell fan. Anchor Man was good. Anchor Man 2 was too Ferrell-ish. Zoolander is classic. Talledega Nights was funny when Sacha Baron Cohen was on screen. Stranger than Fiction was interesting. Blades of Glory wasn't. I liked A Night at the Roxbury, but that movie is nearly old enough to buy cigarettes.
But Kevin Hart makes me laugh harder than anyone else. So, I was willing to give a comedy, with what seemed like a simple plot, a view.
Based on that thought process of the first two paragraphs here, there are two big surprises with this movie. The first is positive. The second is negative.
1. Will Ferrell plays an actual character. It's close to a caricature, but there is some nuance in the performance. One of my gripes with Ferrell is that when the script/scene requires nuance, Ferrell reverts to his Jacob Silj "I CAN'T CONTROL THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE" character from Saturday Night Live 20 years ago (that's my story and I'm sticking to it...". Because of that, all of his jokes have the same sound and delivery. For me, the type of comedy that has always worked best is when character flaws are exposed through scene, setting, and honesty of character. That's why I contend that Tropic Thunder is nearly flawless. Ferrell's character in Get Hard gets to shine through moments of aloofness that only a millionaire white man could get away with. A few simple character-moments allow the stereotypical Ferrell outbursts to be more entertaining.
2. The plot is needlessly complicated. Which could be fine. Who is really seeing a Kevin Hart film and hoping for cinematic mastery? However, because of this, there are tons of "just shoot them already," moments. There are also a lot of moments where the plot goes somewhere that makes no real sense, and character motivations are questionable at best. On top of that, the "big twist" is so obvious, clunky, and poorly executed that you have to wonder if it was written as a plot point, but directed as a plot twist.
Kevin Hart is flawless. He would be worth the price of admission by himself.
Craig T. Nelson was a definitive strength in the film, and hopefully he starts popping up in more movies.
T.I. is legitimately terrifying. I was prepared for his role to be disappointing, but now I'm even more excited for Ant-Man.
Alison Brie is everything the movie needed, and more. She is on her way to Anna-Faris-comedy-goddess status.
Overall the movie is worth the investment of a couple hours and a few dollars. It's not a Mel Brooks film, but it isn't a Seth Rogen film either.
79/100
ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University.
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