Despite the fact that over the past 50 years, society has become more tolerant, the problem of racism has not yet been resolved even in the most developed countries. In 2015, the comedy film “Strength!” Was released. He received mostly negative reviews, despite this, the creators of the film managed to comedically address the problem of racial stereotypes, which affects American society to this day. So, it’s worthwhile to understand the pros and cons of this film, which some consider a worthy analogue to “Big Stan”.
The film "Be strong!" (2015)
The director of the picture was Ethan Cohen, known to viewers on the films "Soldiers of Failure", "Men in Black-3" and "Idiocracy". In addition, Ethan became one of the authors of the script of the project “Be strong!” The leading actors are Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.
This tape was a kind of exception to the rule: critics smashed it to the smithereens, but the audience liked it. Get Hard collected at the box office a little less than 112 million dollars, which was almost three times higher than the budget picture.
Plot
The protagonist of the tape is hedge fund manager James King. Over the years of honest work, he was able to make a fortune, won the heart of the spoiled daughter of the boss and became a partner in his company.
However, he was suddenly accused of fraud and offered to plead guilty and serve a year in prison. Being innocent, James refuses the deal with the prosecutor and goes to court, hoping to receive an acquittal.
Unfortunately, all the evidence is against him, and King is sentenced to 10 years in jail at San Quentin State Prison.
Walking towards James, the judge gives him a thirty-day delay before imprisonment, so that he brings all his affairs to order. As a fairly sane person, King realizes that hell awaits him in prison. Therefore, for the last 30 thousand dollars, he hires a black car washer, Darnell Lewis, to teach him prison wisdom.
Contrary to the prejudice of James King that most blacks went to prison, Darnell was a law-abiding citizen and an excellent family man all his life. However, in order to earn money for his business, he pretends to be an experienced prisoner and teaches James the laws of prison. Friendship is established between the men in the course of their studies, and Lewis helps King find the real culprit of embezzlement and regain his honest name.
Issues and main characters
Despite the fact that in the painting "Strength!" actors often swear, and most of the jokes relate to the so-called "toilet humor", this project makes fun of many problems of modern American society.
In the past few years, many films have been shot about slavery and about how blacks sought freedom. Despite all this pathos, citizens of the most democratic country in the world are still dominated by racial stereotypes. For example, a poor black man in sportswear in a rich area is perceived as a servant or as a potential robber.
At the same time, in the painting "Strength!" another stereotype of thinking of the average American hard worker is shown: almost any rich white-skinned financier accused of fraud is automatically considered public by default.
For almost 100 minutes (the timing of the picture) in a rather caustic form ridiculed by tolerance racism. James King himself is a walking stereotype. He is smart and a little arrogant, but absolutely not ready for a clash with real life. Like a classic nouveau riche, James has a luxurious home, a car of the latest model, a personal trainer and a beautiful wife. In addition, he tries to be polite to servants. However, at the sight of a black guy in the parking lot, he is mistaken for a robber.
As a true Southerner, James unconditionally believes in the American justice system. However, becoming her victim, decides to change. Under the supervision of Darnell, King learns to communicate with criminals, because of which he finds himself in difficult situations. So one of the Mexican gangs invites him to commit murder, in return for protection in prison. And faced with skinheads, he almost dies at their hands. Despite his mind, King is not ready to believe that his father-in-law Martin, whom all the evidence points to, framed him.
King's black mentor Darnell Lewis is an anti-stereotype. He has a great family, he did not sit and, although he does not have an education, wants to open his own car wash.
Living in a disadvantaged area, Lewis did not participate in any gang and continues to be a law-abiding citizen. His trouble is that he is black from a poor area, so residents of respectable areas immediately perceive him as a criminal.
The film “Strength!”: Actors and roles
Potentially, James King's convict, nicknamed Mayonnaise for his skin color, was played by well-known class B comedy actor Will Ferrell. It is worth noting that the role of a little cowardly and naive financier was a success for Will. His hero is completely unlike the selfish hooligan skater Chazz Michael Michaels from the picture “Blades of Glory: Stars on Ice” or the couturier villain Jacobim Mugatu from “Model Male 1.2”.
Ferrell's partner was the black comedian Kevin Hart, known for his participation in several films of the series “Very Scary Cinema” and similar projects (“Very Epic Cinema” and “Extreme Cinema”).
Spouse Darnell Lewis was played by Edwin Findlay (Law and Order, Brothers and Sisters), and a charming daughter - young Ariana Neal ("Obnoxious Ladies", "Nicky").
The villain who set up the protagonist was played by Craig T. Nelson, with whom Will Ferrell worked even before the project “Be strong!” The actors starred together in the film "Blades of Glory: Stars on Ice", however, then Craig got the role of a desperate coach Chazz.
The unreliable spouse of the protagonist Alice was played by American Alison Bree (“Actively Searching,” “Hunting for Work”).
Also took part in the painting "Strength!" actors: Greg Germann (“Loafers”, “Hunting for work”), Paul Ben-Victor (“Daredevil”, “Chicago Medics”), Katya Gomez (“The Price of Passion”, “A Man Like Hot Cakes”) and others.
Critic Reviews
This project has mostly received negative reviews. The site Rotten Tomatoes gave the picture a rating of 4.3 points out of 10 possible. Many reviews have indicated that the talents of two beautiful wits who played the main roles were wasted.
34 out of 100 - this is the rating that the film “Strengthened!” Received on Metacritic (Get Hard). The roles played by Will Ferrell and Kevinoi Hart, critics from this site considered the decoration of the picture, however, a huge mass of "jokes" sort of ruined the general impression.
CinemaScore has attributed "Strength!" to category B on a scale from A + to F.
The Russian site "Kinopoisk" was more generous to this tape and gave it 5.691 points out of 10.
Spectator reviews
As for ordinary people, they perceived this picture is not so clear. Fans of the comedies “Without Feelings”, “Don't Threaten the South Central, Drinking Juice in Your Quarter” and “Fifty Shades of Black” took the tape with a bang.
Those who have a more refined taste, the painting "Strength!" greeted less enthusiastically, calling it not funny, but rather banal and flat. In the reviews and reviews of such viewers, as a rule, the project is compared with Big Stan. Most agree that Get Hard did not reach the level of this tape.
At the same time, everyone who watched the picture suggests that the actors and the roles of the film “Be strong!” - The main and undeniable advantage of the project.
Entertaining facts
- Due to a similar plot with the Big Stan tape, some mistakenly consider Get Hard a remake of it. However, it is not. The script of the picture is based on the original plot of the work of writers Adam Mackay, Jay Martel and Ian Roberts.
- The official slogan of the picture: An education in incarceration (education for prison).
- Get Hard became the third box office picture with Will Ferrell, filmed in recent years.
- In "Be strong!" Farrell also acted as the producer of the project.
Unfortunately, Get Hard was not able to repeat the success of Big Stan, but financially it became more successful than the picture with Rob Schneider. This viewer's love, which the film managed to win, despite the negative reviews of critics, was once again confirmed by the fact that the decisive role is still played not by money and marketing, but by the opinion of ordinary people who came to the cinema to watch the movie.