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"Get Hard," out in U.S. theaters on Friday, sees hapless
millionaire James King (Ferrell) charged with fraud and given 30
days to prepare for prison. He turns to Darnell (Hart), a
car-wash entrepreneur, to get him ready for life behind bars.
James assumes Darnell, a African American, is an ex-convict.
Darnell, a middle-class family man with no hint of a criminal
record, goes along with the assumption because he needs the
money.
"(James) lives in such a bubble and doesn't know how to talk to
human beings, and (Darnell) is able to break me down and rattle
my cage and say, 'This is what the real world's like,'" Ferrell
said in an interview at the South by Southwest Festival in
Austin, Texas earlier this month.
Ferrell and Hart candidly discussed racial caricatures at a time
when race is still a hot button issue in the United States.
"We're poking fun at these racial stereotypes in such a clever
way that people are going to have to go, 'It is stupid to
prejudge and to assume based on appearance, color, standards,
whatever it may be,'" Hart said.
Race is "just something I think we always need to analyze,"
Ferrell added. "It's healthy to talk about it, and it bridges or
creates the bridge toward acceptance."
Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros' "Get Hard" will battle young
adult dystopian drama "Insurgent" this weekend and is projected
by BoxOffice.com to earn $31 million at the U.S. box office.
Much of the film revolves around prison rape jokes as Darnell
pushes James' comfort level to get him into shape for jail.
In putting two comedy stalwarts together on screen, Ferrell said
"Get Hard" gives both him and Hart the spotlight to shine -
whether it's Ferrell's James using expletives to practise his
trash talk or Hart pretending he is three different prison gang
members fighting each other.
"The chemistry Will and myself were able to tap into added for a
different level of comedy, because it's almost like a pendulum,"
Hart said. "You're looking at two guys that are taking turns and
that aren't in competition for getting laughs."
(Editing by Patricia Reaney. Editing by Andre Grenon)
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