ScreenshotGet Hard
Directed by: Etan Cohen
Written by: Jay Martel, Ian Roberts, and Etan Cohen
Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T. Nelson, and Alison Brie
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It’s a fine line that comedy writers walk between funny and downright crude. It’s also a fine line between pointless laughs and jokes that hint at a deeper meaning.
Get Hard is promoted as a fun night out at the movies with friends, but it’s one that will have you thinking about the deeper social issues in society. Where the movie really excels is the satirical fashion that it depicts race and class separation. It’s hilarious an offensive in the way it does it, but you will definitely leave the theatre questioning the prejudices you have on a daily basis.
The movie follows James (Ferrell), who seemingly has the perfect life. He’s a powerful businessman, has a hot fiancé, and his soon-to-be father-in-law has just given him the father-son relationship he has so long craved since his own father shipped him off to boarding school. But, a wrench is thrown into his life when he is convicted of tax evasion. His fiancé leaves him and his no-longer soon-to-be father in law assures him he is dealing with the charges (but is not). James then decides to hire Darnell (Hart), the man who washes his car whom he assumes has been to prison, to help him prepare for his upcoming 10-year sentence. Though Darnell has never been to prison, his family needs the money, so he agrees. Darnell then puts James through a series of hilarious drills and prison simulations, despite having no idea what prison is like.
Ferrell is still hilarious in his stereotypical idiot character, but he is not the true comedian of this film. Hart has made quite the splash in the comedy world these days with many blockbusters in just the past few years. Old white man comedians are a dime a dozen these days (you could have replaced Will Ferrell with anyone else and the movie would have been just as funny and successful) but it would most definitely have the same level of humour as Kevin Hart.
Get Hard is hilarious, though it is not for the innocent. It uses humour to present the audience with the issue of racism in the United States. By layering it with comedy it not only makes the film more amusing to the audience, but satirizes it. Making a complete over-the-top situation where the prejudices and flat-out racism in the film seem unreasonable and shock the audience, but yet it is something that is dealt with every day in our society.
Between the hilarious comedy and the complex social issues, Get Hard proves that it is much more than a raunchy buddy comedy.
