Tim Report, who directed Hart in his 2012 breakout “Think Like a Man,” pretty much places everything on the comic’s backside and forgot a movie requires a story. “Ride Along” – written by Greg Coolidge, Jason Mantzoukas, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi – doesn’t have a lot of one. The plot twists are more like narrative mishaps. Even a comedy about cops can’t get away with being completely implausible, though this one certainly tries. An action comedy that treats using guns as innocent enjoyment and gunshot wounds like hangnails, Ride Along delivers Ice Cube as straight person to the comic stylings of a distinctive funnyman.

James takes advantage of every opportunity he has to make Ben miserable and convince him that hes not cut right out to wield a badge, while investigating further into a dangerous case secretly. Will Ben manage to impress his girlfriends over-protective brother and prove he has what it takes to uphold the law? Answer: Have a wild guess.

By the time “Omar” reveals himself (any movie buff worth their salt will understand the young type of streaming the actor playing him early in the movie, in the “only known picture” of the character) the movie has abandoned just about any case it has on being very good, but by exactly the same token, it’s self-aware enough not to entirely degrade its welcome. As Tika Sumpter finally gets to do something in the movie, that is, turn into a prop for the villain, I braced myself. “Oh dear, now there’s likely to be some kind of ‘funny’ vehicle chase” Spoiler alert: No auto chase. The movie sputters to its cheerful ending, the post-credit sequence supplies a final bit of amusing Kevin Hart content, and everyone moves home happy. Okay, maybe not happy, but also not pissed-off.