Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain is the latest stand-up release from American comedian Kevin Hart. The film begins with an amusing set-up, placing Hart at the centre of his own mix-and-mingle party. Here, the rising comic suddenly finds himself the target of rumours, innuendo and lies, with each falsehood justified as the price of growing fame.

The scenario leads to Hart making tracks for New York’s Madison Square Garden where he’ll have the platform to explain himself. This scene is a well-suited lead into Hart’s stand-up routine, but then the film suddenly takes a northward turn to Canada.

The audience is taken on a highlight journey through Canada, Europe and the UK, which basically consists of Hart thanking the audiences around the world and some silliness on a tour bus. 30 minutes later the film finally returns to New York.

Fortunately this pacing problem has little impact on Hart’s actual set, other than making you feel as though the stand-up portion of the film is over much too soon. Of course that’s not necessarily a bad thing in the world of showmanship, and Hart is certainly a marquee showman. With his own pyrotechnics and an unflappable swagger it’s obvious Hart is at home performing before 30,000 of his fans. Although the intimacy of Seriously Funny and the financial insecurities of Laugh at My Pain are replaced with grandeur, Let Me Explain still consists of Hart’s hallmarks.

Friends, family, relationships and Hart’s own children are still sources of inspiration and ridicule – and the comedian hasn’t left behind his merciless impression of women in hysterics. Hart plays to his strengths throughout the set, using well-timed physical comedy and revelling in the roles of deviant ex-husband, tough-loving father and blustering friend.

Filmed before a sold-out crowd in New York’s Madison Square Garden, the gig placed Hart in rarefied air with only a handful of stand-ups having accomplished the same feat. Indeed, perhaps the most moving moment of the film is when Hart emotionally recognises the achievement as a lifelong dream.

When all the spectacle and skits are stripped away, it’s tough to tell if Hart’s previous efforts are outshone by this material on its own merit. But the occasion is so exuberant, especially when the topic of homeless people is broached, it’s impossible not get behind Hart.

Marc Zanotti

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain is released in selected cinemas on 30^th August 2013.

Watch the trailer for Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain here: