[Trailer] Ride Along

http://youtu.be/MPHcT-cEepU

 

Buddy films are some of the most formulaic and lazy films to create. The entire "gimmick" is reliant on pairing people of completely contrasting personalities, throwing them into an asinine situation, then allowing them to look past their differences/embracing their differences to overcome the odds, thusly becoming better friends in the process. The Heat is the most recent example, but the buddy film (more specifically, buddy cop films) genre has extended as far back as the early beginnings of cinema.

Of course, such films are wholly dependent on the chemistry between the pair; some buddy films have been very successful (Rush Hour), critically-acclaimed (End of Watch), or god awful (White Chicks). Ride Along, directed by Tim Story (Barbershop), stars comedian Kevin Hart and rapper/actor Ice Cube as a high school security guard aspiring to become a cop to impress his girlfriend's older, successful police officer in order to receive the blessing to marry. So, basically, there's the annoying, overreaching loudmouth paired with the hard-nosed veteran. While it appears the chemistry between the two should help the film find an audience, aren't we beginning to run out of interest in buddy cop films?

Whatever the case may be, Ride Along will be riding along to theaters in January 2014.