Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, 2013.
Directed by Leslie Small and Tim Story.
Starring Kevin Hart.
SYNOPSIS:
Filmed at a sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden, comedian Kevin Hart delivers material from his 2012 “Let Me Explain” concert tour.
Being a major player in the arena of stand up is a big deal. The late great Richard Pryor set a huge bar that has only been reached by Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle. Recently a new player has stepped up in Kevin Hart. While Hart can step into generic comedy, he’s actually been in more funny movies than not, and has proven he is genuinely clever with good comedic timing. But how does he deliver in his fourth comedy special?
I’m both glad and disappointed to say that Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain is one of Hart’s funnier stand up specials, but it’s also his least memorable. One of the things a great stand up special does is give insight into a comedian’s personal life. After they walk off stage, the audience should walk away with a personal attachment. This time Hart is purely going for more broad laughs. And for the most part it works in spite of itself. Even jokes where I could see the punch line coming where still very funny.
In place of the personal stories is a comedy segment followed by footage of Hart and crew touring around. While the comedy skit is too long, and obviously only inserted to have the movie meet a feature length run time, the tour footage is actually pretty fun to watch. I would love to see a documentary about Kevin’s Hart personal life and as far as padding goes it was exceptional.
Overall if someone was excited or even curious about this I’d say to see it based purely on the laughs. I was in an audience who were completely engaged and laughing quite loud. It just doesn’t leave a lasting impression like Hart’s first stand up special I’m a Grown Little Man. One can only hope Hart continues to grow as a person and a comedian and in turn, deliver more focused and personal material.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.
Originally published July 10, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
