Ride Along (2014)

Manic comic Kevin Hart and former NWA member Ice Cube headline this buddy comedy.  James (Ice Cube) is not crazy about Ben (Kevin Hart), the guy his sister Angela (Tika Sumpter) loves.  Ben gets accepted into the police academy and declares his intention to marry Angela.  James, a cop, decides to test Ben's fortitude by taking him along for the day as he goes about his job.  Ben is subjected to various scenarios designed to humiliate Ben, while James tries to track down someone who's planning to bring a shipment of guns into Atlanta.

I've seen Ice Cube in better projects, most notably, Boyz In The Hood (1991) and Barbershop (2002).  I like Kevin Hart as a comedian, but I have yet to see him in a good movie other than his comedy concert films.  There's a plot twist that can be seen from miles away.  It was no surprise to me when it was fully revealed late in the movie.  Unfortunately, most of the movie is the usual that audiences have seen many times before.  Hart dishes up his trademark non-stop patter, but here, it seems a little less would have worked better.

Gary Owen (Think Like A Man) has a small role, and singer Angie Stone appears briefly in a scene.  John Leguizamo (Ice Age), Bryan Callen ("Mad TV"), and Bruce McGill (National Lampoon's Animal House) appear as cops working alongside Ice Cube's character.

Hangin' With The Homeboys (1991)

Slice-of-life story following four friends during the course of night out on the town: Willie (Doug E. Doug), Tom (Mario Joyner), Johnny (John Leguizamo), and Fernando (Nestor Serrano). The movie was marketed as a free-wheelin' comedy, but actually is a lot more serious in nature. Each of the guys has his own issues to work through and correct. Willie appears to just drift through life, while Tom works a dead-end phone job while trying to make it as an actor. Fernando, a Puerto Rican, calls himself Vinnie and pretends he is Italian. Johnny is an academically smart kid who doesn't seem to have enough motivation to go to college and leave his grocery store clerk job behind.

The story bogs down from time to time, but has some nice touches in terms of characters. It is also nice to see young Latino and African-American males in a film where they aren't on the wrong side of the law. Doug E. Doug began his career as a stand-up comic. He was a regular on "Cosby".

Revenge (1990)

Michael "Jay" Cochran (Kevin Costner) gets out of the Navy after 12 years and kicks around while he figures out what to do with the rest of his life. He visits Tiburon "Tibby" Mendez (Anthony Quinn), a powerful Mexican businessman whom he met some time ago. Cochran is given a mild warning about Mendez from one of his Navy buddies. It is hinted that Mendez doesn't always do business the legal way. Cochran shrugs this off.

Cochran reconnects with Mendez and is introduced to the businessman's wife, a beautiful woman named Miyrea (Madeline Stowe). There is an attraction between Cochran and Miyrea that is taken too far. Mendez catches them, snatches his wife away, and has Cochran beaten by his men and left for dead in the desert. Cochran is found by some people and nursed back to health. When he gets back on his feet, he has two objectives: find Miyrea and get back at Mendez. The movie then turns into a series of somewhat disjointed violent encounters as Cochran makes his journey.

Costner, Quinn and Stowe have all been in better films. Miguel Ferrer (Traffic) and John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge) appear here, along with Sally Kirkland (EdTV).