Ride Along (DQ)

Stars: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Bruce McGill, Bryan Callen, Dragos Bucur, Gary Owen

Director: Tim Story

Just a little better than you might expect from the mismatched cop comedy genre, this starts well, with some good action, and ends well too, in similar fashion.

In between, the comedy content is acceptable, if hardly likely to set the world on fire, as undercover cop Ice Cube is forced to take his sister's disruptive fiancé Kevin Hart (who has just been accepted into police academy) on a 'ride along' to see what life is like on the streets.

Much quickfire interplay in the Cube & Hart manner ensues, as the latter is thrust into what turn out to be set-up situations designed to highlight his ineptitude.

Sixty years ago, this might almost have served as a vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and the huge box-office takings in America show that this sort of thing is just as popular today; not surprisingly Ride Along 2 is already in the works.

My favourite moment came when Hart, masquerading as a criminal mastermind to save Cube's bacon is reminded by an underling that the never-seen kingpin is reputed to be six-feet-four. Shooting the questioning crook in the foot, and felling him to floor level, Hart snorts 'How tall d'you think I am now?'

David Quinlan

USA 2013. UK Distributor: Universal. Colour by deluxe.
99 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 28 Feb 2014