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Ride Along (film)

Ride Along is a 2014 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tim Story and starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.

Ride Along

Greg Coolidge

Larry Blanford

  • January 17, 2014 (2014-01-17) (United States)

100 minutes[1]

United States

English

$25 million[2]

$154.5 million[2]

The film follows Ben Barber (Kevin Hart), a security guard who must prove to his girlfriend's police officer brother, James Payton (Ice Cube), that he is worthy of marrying her. During their 24-hour patrol of Atlanta, Ben accidentally gets wrapped up in James' hunt for an arms dealer, Omar (Laurence Fishburne).


The film was produced by Relativity Media, Cube Vision Productions and Universal Pictures, and distributed by Universal Pictures. Following two premieres in Atlanta and Los Angeles, the film was released worldwide on January 17, 2014. A sequel, Ride Along 2, was released on January 15, 2016.

Plot[edit]

Undercover detective James Payton is on a falsifying passports operation run by "Omar". After a shootout with the smugglers, his lieutenant asks him to drop the case, which he does not.


Ben Barber, a jumpy, short high school security guard who plays video games in his spare time, applies to the Atlanta City Police Academy. He asks James for his blessing to marry his sister, Angela. James tells Ben has to go on a "ride along" first to prove he is worthy of her. If successful, he will recommend him for the academy, and give his blessing.


Taking Ben to the station, James asks dispatch to give him all the 1-26s that are called in, which he has Ben take care of. Questioning the informant Runflat, James uncovers the connection between Serbia and "Omar" and hears a shipment will come in later that day. Leaving the park, James takes Ben to the local shooting range and finds out that Zastava M92's have been given to the store. When a 1-26 is called in, Ben and James go to the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, where drunken 'Crazy Cody' is being disorderly. Ben tries to subdue him but cannot, so James arrests him.


Ben asks to be taken home before Angela's call. He tells her about his stressful day, and she tells him James plays poker with a guy named Crazy Cody, and that 1-26s are code for annoying situations for newbies as a joke. He then goes into the police station and sees Cody laughing with James, Santiago and Miggs.


Upset, Ben refuses to go home and instead takes a 1-26 for a disturbance at a strip club. There, two men get into a Mexican standoff with James and Ben which Ben, believing is another joke call, fools around. James subdues them, then they are tipped off about a gun deal with Omar's men. Ben confronts James about the 1-26s.


James receives a call from Santiago in the car, finding out that Runflat had turned himself in. Ben says Runflat's brother told him in the park Runflat had just got out of prison, news to James so, another clue. They talk to Runflat's other brother, J, to get the location of the gun deal. During the conversation, Ben accidentally shoots J, who reveals where and when the deal will take place.


Deciding to infiltrate the warehouse with Santiago and Miggs, James leaves Ben in the car. They betray him, turning out to be crooked cops working for Omar. James is then tied up, which Ben sees. Santiago mocks and criticizes James for being unsociable and egocentric. As the deal begins, Ben pretends to be Omar (as no one has ever seen the real Omar).


Successfully fooling them, Ben wreaks havoc at the deal. Just as he is about to leave with James, the real Omar appears. A shootout ensues, and many of Omar's men are killed. Ben shows his sharp reflexes and knowledge of battle (thanks to his gaming). James and Ben take the money from the deal and escape before the warehouse explodes as Ben's grenade hits a box of explosives and destroys James's car. Unbeknownst to them, Santiago, Miggs and Omar escape.


Santiago and Miggs arrive at Angela's apartment, tying her up. As she was playing one of Ben's interactive games, Ben's fellow gamers hear the confrontation between Angela, Miggs and Santiago through Ben's headset. At the hospital, being treated for a gunshot wound in the leg, Ben receives a call from a fellow gamer, who tells James something's going on at the apartment. After seeing some cops arriving at the hospital, James and Ben sneak out to the apartment with Omar's money.


James injures Miggs, before fighting with Santiago. As Santiago is about to shoot him, Angela knocks him out. Ben gets knocked out by Omar in a fight, who then takes the bag of money and Angela, and leaves.


James follows Omar and Angela, confronting him. Just as Omar is about to shoot James, Ben slides over a car and kicks him. James shoots Omar twice, injuring him. Police arrest Omar, Miggs, and Santiago, and James finally gives Ben his blessing.


In a mid-credits scene, Ben and Angela are engaged, and Ben is weeks away from graduating from the police academy. At a barbecue at James's, Ben blows up the barbecue and goes flying into the bushes, killing the neighbor's dog.

as James Payton,[3] undercover police detective

Ice Cube

as Ben Barber,[4] James' sister's boyfriend

Kevin Hart

as Angela Payton,[5] James's sister and Ben's girlfriend

Tika Sumpter

as Santiago,[6] a detective and Miggs' partner

John Leguizamo

as Miggs,[5] a detective and Santiago's partner

Bryan Callen

as Omar,[7] a boss of smugglers

Laurence Fishburne

as Lieutenant Brooks,[8] head of the Atlanta Police department

Bruce McGill

Additional cast includes Gary Owen as Crazy Cody,[9] Jay Pharoah as Runflat,[5] David Banner as Pawnshop Jay, Dragoș Bucur as Marko, Gary Weeks as Dr. Cowan, Jacob Latimore as Ramone and Benjamin Flores, Jr. as Morris, Runflat's brother.

Ride Along (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

January 28, 2014

2014

43:39

Back Lot Music

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Ride Along received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 18%, based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 4.20/10. The site's consensus states: "Kevin Hart's livewire presence gives Ride Along a shot of necessary energy, but it isn't enough to rescue this would-be comedy from the buddy-cop doldrums."[33] Metacritic assigns the film a score of 41 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[34] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[35]


British critic Mark Kermode gave the film one out of five stars, describing it as "an action-comedy short on both action and comedy."[36]


Scott Foundas of Variety called the film "a lazy and listless buddy-cop action-comedy that fades from memory as quickly as its generic title."[37] Entertainment Weekly′s film critic Chris Nashawaty gave the film a "C+" grade."[38]

Accolades[edit]

The film received several award nominations, a 2014 BET Award for Best Actor for Kevin Hart,[39] and two 2014 MTV Movie Awards nominations, Best On-Screen Duo for Ice Cube and Hart,[40] and Best Comedic Performance for Hart.[41] On April 13, 2014, after the best-screen-duo award went to Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for Fast & Furious 6, Ice Cube joked to USA Today that they were robbed.[42]

Official website

at IMDb

Ride Along

at Box Office Mojo

Ride Along