Thursday, April 30, 2015

Review of GET HARD: Offensively Outrageous

April 30, 2015



James King is a very wealthy stockbroker who gets wrongly convicted for fraud. Desperately scared of being molested in prison, he thought of hiring the black guy who ran the nearby car wash to harden him up so he can survive behind bars. Against James' perceived statistics though, Darnell never spent a day in prison himself! From there, the film goes through every conceivable racist, misogynistic, or homophobic stereotype jokes they can come up with, until the inevitably predictable ending.

Liking a satiric comedy film that feeds on these politically-incorrect, potentially offensive jokes is a matter of personal taste. I do not belong to any of the demographic the film trained its comic claws on, so I was not personally offended by the crass humor. I found most of the jokes flat and unfunny, only mildly amusing at best.

Maybe it does not help that I never really liked the comedy style of Will Ferrell even from way back. The film opens with the unfortunate scene of Ferrell bawling so fakely it set a decidedly mediocre tone for the rest of the film. His delivery of jokes were not effective, or his material itself was not written very well. Most of his "funny" scenes had no words, with just his awkward body movement or stupid facial expressions doing the "fish out of water" job better.

I only knew Kevin Hart from his recent film which was showed only earlier this year, "The Wedding Ringers". There, Hart effectively achieved chemistry with his partner Josh Gad and that that made the film really work well. Here though, Hart does not really gel very well with Ferrell. I liked Hart's character better, but the performance of this up and coming black comedian was hampered by the limitations of the script.

So if you like your comedies brash, loud and peppered generously with filthy language, then "Get Hard" is the film for you. For those of you who prefer more cerebral comedies then it would be okay to give it a pass. 4/10. 




21 comments:

  1. It looks like it would really give you a good laugh. It looks like it missed some spots though.

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  2. Ah, I'll pass on this one. I hate kasi yung racist jokes used to make people laugh. Also, baka madami riyan "F***K Y**" language. Asar ako roon.

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  3. Will Ferrell will do the rest for a funny film like this one. I rated him as A+ comedian for worlwide status. Well, for Kevin Hart I will check this out.

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  4. Thanks for this honest review. I personally am a huge anchorman fan, but this movie just did not look that great and played on some very old sterrotypes about black people.

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  5. Can't say I have been a fan of Will Ferrell for a while... he just seems to be losing the sparkle he once had. Doubt I will be watching this film! Sim

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  6. I was never a fan, too, so I will let this one pass. You did a great review.

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  7. I haven't heard (nor seen probably) Will Ferrell but I do know Kevin Hart. If I didn't read this review, I would expect so much from it because I find Hart really funny and a good actor.

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  8. i love comedies that are brash and has filthy language. most films wills in does tend to have filthy language. it seems to be his style

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  9. I quite like a comedy myself, easy watching. I haven't heard of this film though will be looking to find out some more though now.

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  10. The poster looks so cool~ Thanks for the review.

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  11. This is a very honest review. I love comedy. It is very easy to watch and a good way to destress.

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  12. I don't like Will Ferrell comedy acting, the way he deliver his jokes. I don't find him funny.

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  13. Noted, and thanks Fred :) Am gonna be catching the Jurassic Park in a bit - have you reviewed that yet?

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    1. Yes! Watched it on the first day. Click on my blog archive for the month of June. :-)

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  14. I think they make an excellent team up. It could really bring up loads of laughs.

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  15. I agree with you. I went to see this in the movie theatre and absolutely hated it. I like Kevin but not so much a big fan of Will and thought they had no chemistry. If only I could get that portion of my life I spend watching that horrible movie back.

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  16. Politically inclined jokes in movies are very popular ever since. But sometimes, it's for the actors to elude the pragmatic ways to attack the politically.

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  17. Nah. Not watching this. I know Will Farrell only because of his collaboration with Adidas... but not a fan..

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  18. I m not sure this movie will be screened in my country or not. I think it pure comedy. Not too sure I will watch it or not.

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  19. I haven't seen Will Farrel in a movie recently. This looks like a good laugh.
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