Is there some sort of fraternity of rappers laughing about selling out to the man? Is it sort of an inside joke? First we’ve got Ice T, who famously rapped about being a “Cop Killer,” inciting the wrath of middle aged white congressmen and suburbia at large, suddenly donning investigative gear for a “Law and Order” spinoff. And now we have Ice Cube, who famously rapped “Fuck Da Police,” getting in gear for a pallid-sounding sitcom concept called “Ride Along.” Do these guys get together at Old Rapper Conventions and laugh about this?
Cube would play a cop who has suspicions about the man his sister’s going to marry. Instead of sussing him out in a non-sociopathic way, he decides to take him on an unsanctioned ride-along. Not only that, but he’s an “upper-crust white psychologist,” which means all sorts of race/class differences are going to be discussed. Even money there’s a disagreement over what to play on the radio. Even money also on the idea that the future husband-in-law has terrible taste in everything.
Dunno about you, but we’ve been on a few ride-alongs, and they really run the gamut, but mostly, they’re depressing, and not fodder for an action-comedy. In one situation, we watched a domestic dispute resolve itself in an ugly manner. In another, we watched a thirty minute investigation centered around someone who had relieved themselves in construction equipment. What we’re saying, in other words, is that we want Lars Von Trier to direct this. Or maybe one of those guys from the Romanian New Wave.
The script, originally from Greg Coolidge, is being re-written by Jason Mantzoukas, who apparently drew some heat, according to the trades, because of a buddy cop comedy he developed for NBC that they didn’t pick up. Which is a weird way to draw heat, since no one watches NBC, meaning that “Off-Duty,” which featured Romany Malco and Bradley Whitford, must have been at least as watchable as “Sabado Gigante.”