To ascertain his potential brother-in-law's mettle, a grumpy cop takes him out on the job. If you think this is the day that all kinds of gangster hell is gonna break lose in Atlanta, you'd be right. Ditto if you predict that wussy, cop-wannabe Ben (Kevin Hart) will wind up saving the day, and winning James' (Ice Cube) respect.
There's not much new about Tim Story's comedy (PG-13, but packed with violence and profanity). But it reminded me less of a hundred other mismatched buddy-cop movies than it did a particularly inane and shrill rom-com. Ben is the hysterical woman, James the dismissive man, and through various trials, they discover that each was blinded by first impressions and, in fact, they could love each other.
Hart works hard on feminizing his role — fainting, shrieking, bumbling "man" things like guns and muscle cars. It's a one-joke concept stretched pretty thin, and Ice Cube brings nothing new to the game, even recycling his "it was a good day" line that was funny the first time, way back in 1997's Anaconda.
