Kevin Hart’s latest laughter vacuum repurposes the plot of 2009’s undervalued I Love You, Man for actors whose own relatives probably wouldn’t pay to watch them in a cinema. Where its predecessor used this set-up – friendless groom-to-be hires phoney best man – to observe how funny men can get around other men, Ringer is principally concerned with the indignities wrought on schlubby Josh Gad’s gonads by, among other elements, chilli and hungry dogs. Hart continues to demonstrate what Funny People euphemistically termed “a lot of energy”. Here, it encompasses ultra-lame dance routines and behaviour towards women that would likely land one on a register if emulated in real life.
