Kevin Hart names his three favourite movies of all time
The pathway for comedians to become actors is a reliable one, especially when considering how many legends of the standup circuit have managed to find bankable careers as movie stars.
That being said, many of the best-known comedians-turned-actors are from an older generation; there aren’t a lot of modern comics who have the same crossover appeal as legends like Steve Martin, Wanda Sykes, Jim Carrey, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Kevin Hart has proven to be an exception to the rule, as unlike the other currently popular crop like Pete Davidson and Shane Gillis, he didn’t have the bump of being a Saturday Night Live cast member, and it was only shortly after launching his first global tour that he began popping up in films like Think Like A Man and Little Fockers, eventually earning leading roles in the Ride Along and Jumanji franchises.
While Hart hasn’t exactly starred in many critically-acclaimed films, it’s hard to doubt his passion for cinema, and when discussing his favourite films of all time, he gave MovieZine a unique list of titles that reflect his areas of interest, beginning with the financially unsuccessful romantic-dramedy Love Jones.
Love Jones may have been the only film that Theodore Witcher ever got the chance to direct, but it stood out for its all-Black cast during the peak of rom-coms in the 1990s, wherein most major hits like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Pretty Woman were criticised for their lack of diversity. The film also featured a notable early performance by Nia Long, who would eventually make a cameo in Hart’s housewives reality show parody, Real Husbands of Hollywood.
The funnyman’s love for classic stand-ups is evident from his second selection, Harlem Nights, which was the first and only film ever directed by Eddie Murphy. Although it was a parody of Old Hollywood gangster films from the ‘30s, the movie was hyped up because it saw Murphy teaming up with Richard Pryor, who is considered to be one of the greatest stand-up comedians to ever tickle your funny bone.
Having two generations of highly influential Black comics was groundbreaking in itself, and Harlem Nights featured a stacked supporting cast of other talented stars, featuring the last appearance by Redd Foxx, whose observational humour has a lot in common with Hart’s material.
Since he also recently expressed his admiration for Murphy in the Netflix documentary Being Eddie, it’s not surprising that he counts another one of his films among his favourites. While purists might claim that Beverly Hills Cop or Coming to America is Murphy’s best work, Hart selected the remake of The Nutty Professor because of the acting challenges it presented; the film famously won the Academy Award for ‘Best Makeup’ because of how many different characters the actor played, and it’s clear to see how the slapstick, wacky humor of the film may have influenced Hart.
It’s interesting that all of the films the man picked have gradually garnered more respect over time, where Love Jones and Harlem Nights have ended up earning cult appreciation, and The Nutty Professor has stuck around in culture because of the strong nostalgia from audiences that grew up with it. One can hope that perhaps some of Hart’s films that were dismissed initially might earn a similar critical reappreciation.
