Perhaps the most iconic turning point in a comedians career is when he’s handed the opportunity to headline his own film. Will Ferrell and Steve Martin made the successful transition to the world of film, while others like Jimmy Fallon found that movies weren’t their strong suit. Judging by the massive box office totals it’s received, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch at all to declare that with Ride Along, Kevin Hart is officially a major comedic presence in the world of movies.

Ben (Kevin Hart) is a well meaning man with a beautiful girlfriend, Angela (Tika Sumpter), who just so happens to have a brother, police officer James (Ice Cube), who’s the very definition of overprotective. However, when Ben tells James he plans to propose to his sister, an ultimatum is dropped; James will only gives his blessing to the marriage if Ben can prove he’s a good husband. How does he plan to do that? Why, by taking Ben on a ride along.

The plot for Ride Along feels like it could have been cryogenically frozen from any sitcom from over the years and then magically restored to be a modern day comedy. While that may sound like an insult, it’s really not; those old sitcoms can be really entertaining, even on the millionth time you watch them. There’s really no complex explanation for why such plots remain involving; it’s simply the fact that the actors and cast delivering them bring the stories to life with energy and laughs. And just like those time-worn reruns of Charles In Charge, Ride Along becomes much better than one expects because of how well it’s told.

I haven’t had too much experience with Kevin Hart prior to this film, but only seconds into the film, I got his appeal. He has an everyman quality like the best comedians (see: Charlie Chaplin, Three Stooges and Steve Carell) and he can deliver a good one-liner like few can. While I felt Ice Cube’s character was a bit inconsistent, him and Hart go well together and some of the film’s best scenes are where they’re just bouncing off each other. I wish the film had a bit more story to go with the second act of the movie, as things sort of descend into just episodic antics for a while in the film. Luckily, things get a bit more coherent in the third act, and a scene with Hart impersonating a major gangster being the film’s best moment.

As I said before, the script (which somehow took four people to write it) is episodic, and it’s over familiarity is equal parts comforting and occasionally disappointing. But it also contains some really funny moments, moments that do make the overall movie worthwhile. By the end of it, I was moderately invested in the characters and their plight, even if the climax of the whole thing feels a bit, well, anticlimactic for lack of a better word. I kind of doubt we’ll be talking about this as some kind of comedic gem in the far off future, but as a way to announce Kevin Hart’s arrival as a comedian to be reckoned with, not to mention as a way to just have some decent laughs, Ride Along does things just fine.