Get Hard (R)

“Get Hard” stars Will Farrell and Kevin Hart, and despite its potential, never becomes offensively dumb, instead presenting an entertaining – and in odd places, warm- comedy. Suspension of disbelief is almost a prerequisite for enjoying this film, which pairs up a struggling middle-class businessman Darrell (Hart), with a filthy-rich-yet-clueless fund manager James (Farrell). The movie’s beginning drags on a bit too long before getting to its plot – that James is arrested for fraud, which he claims he didn’t’ commit, eventually employing Darrell (who he’s assumed has spent time in prison), to help him ‘get tough’ in the 30 days he has before he must be sent to maximum security prison in San Quentin.

The film has been criticized for its stereotypical nature, its most obvious its racial stereotypes and wild assumptions. For instance, James assumes that Darrell is a parolee due to the fact that (“1 in 3 black men go to prison”), then spends the rest of the film attempting to turn James into a hardcore version of himself, teaching him to act tough, and learn what he needs to survive his harsh 10-year sentence in maximum security prison. Along the way James becomes intertwined with L.A. gang-bangers, his multicultural yet previously ignored cleaning staff, and Darrell’s ironically loving and tender family.

Both Farrell and Hart shine, and while both have the tendency to go over the top at times, here are reigned in and move the plot, not take it over. This is perhaps the result of the chemistry the two have together, and especially the way that Darrell’s loving, accepting family plays off of James’ past, which has been anything but loving despite his multi-millionaire status. Best seen as his fiancée leaves him in the dust once James is arrested, or a scene that starts off as raunchy (James has a monstrous-looking ‘shank’ sticking out of his forehead), but ends sweet as he observes a family dinner at Darrell’s house that touches upon something he has never known.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is certainly raunchy at times, and littered with ‘n’ words, stereotypes of what prison is like, and a good amount of male-on-male prison rape jokes and gangster life. It’s also filled with a few one-sided characters that do nothing really to advance the plot, but really just exist to make you hate them. However, subtle insights find themselves throughout the film, such as the fact that it’s not just James who has mistaken stereotypes against black people, as Darrell asks James towards the film’s conclusion (“wait, are you innocent?”). It’s these types of things that make comedies endearing and not raunchy. It’s for this reason “Get Hard” makes you care about its characters while “Stepbrothers” just makes you despise them.

When “Get Hard” is funny, it’s really funny. Scenes where James gets beat up time-after-time as he challenges men much bigger than him to fist fights in attempt to get tough, or practices his ‘prison talk’ are rightly hilarious, while others are downright hysterical. One scene in particular, which shows Darrell, who had all but given up on James learning what he needs to survive prison, reveling in awe at an assortment of ‘shanks’ James has produced is among the film’s funniest.

I think it’s important to cite what the film does well, as other reviews I have read do little but point out the film’s misogyny, stereotypes, and ill-begotten plot. The plot is ridiculous; it’s supposed to be. But the film’s humor is there, and in a way that is more toned-down than we have come to expect from Farrell. I’ve liked Farrell more and more since 2003’ “Elf,” and the restraint he presents here is a testament to his growth. And while Hart remains one of my favorite stand-up comics, he has a way of toning down his presentation in his films which works to make him a very watchable actor. (However, there is one scene in “Get Hard,” where he comes to James’ rescue, that will have you in absolute stitches).

All-in-all, “Get Hard” is the kind of comedy you would expect from a team-up of Hart and Farrell, hysterical at times, mildly funny at others, but never raunchy to the point of offense. The likeability of its characters, its subtle attack on stereotypes on both sides, and its pleasing ending all go into making it entertaining film. It drags on a bit too long, postpones its ending a little too much, but it’s very forgivable. “Get Hard” works as a buddy comedy; other than that, it’s just a fun way to spend a Friday night.

– by Mark Ziobro