FILM REVIEW: ‘Get Hard’ appeals primarily to fans of leads Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart

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There are all sorts of ways to do movie comedy, and one of the easiest is to just wind up a funny person and turn him or her loose.

For extra insurance, you can wind up two of them, let them do their individual things and see what happens when they collide. That’s pretty much the approach of “Get Hard,” the teaming of two stars well-known for their respective brands of humor: Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.

It’s exactly their differences that are meant to drive the picture’s laughs, with Ferrell playing a financial wizard convicted of fraud and embezzlement – of which he’s actually innocent – and Hart as the streetwise fellow he hires to get him ready for prison life.

Just that description should indicate “Get Hard” plays the race card plentifully, but Hart seems as game as Ferrell to go with the premise. One could delve into the notion that Ferrell immediately assumes Hart will be an ideal guide to prep him to be among other convicts, but the movie reinforces almost every minute that it’s meant to be a comedy.

Some of the jokes in “Get Hard” hark back to “Trading Places,” which had a somewhat similar theme (and which, frankly, was a smarter and better movie). Those who know that picture might think Ferrell is channeling Dan Aykroyd, especially when he turns plaintively whiny – an act Ferrell certainly has down pat – as he frets about his possible fate in the prison population.

Conversely, Hart is as fast and brash as he’s meant to be, often using facial expressions to convey wry irony over his character’s situation, thus letting us know that he’s very much in on the joke. There can be a risk of overdoing that, but to his credit, Hart stops short of going over the line with it.

Craig T. Nelson and Alison Brie are welcome in the supporting cast, but those who see “Get Hard” will do so because they’re fans of Ferrell or Hart or both. The filmmakers know that, so they leave the stars to do the heavy lifting … but getting a completely satisfying result proves to be the truly hard part of “Get Hard.”