It takes a full fifteen (15!) minutes to get to the stand-up comedy routine in this stand-up comedy routine film. Considering the 75 minute length over all, it feels a little like a cheat. The action starts at a celebration party for Kevin Hart, and it does get cute – the tide of well-wishers and entourage-toadies-in-training yields to a throng who have issues with the comedian. Let Me Explain is a wonderful title for a Kevin Hart stand up. He is exactly that guy who does something questionable, realizes it’s questionable, and then feels the need to tell you why he did what he did. Pounded by justification-demanders right and left, Kevin’s instinct is to flee until one accuses him of being a local comedian only. Kevin lights up. Ah, we’ve found a pressure point.
The ensuing travelogue is, to say the very least, indulgent. I think Kevin needed to prove a point. OK, point taken – you have indeed entertained the world (or, you know, Northern Europe) and locals know you where you go. And wherever he goes, people do know him. That’s kind of amazing. Really? In Finland, you’re familiar with the work of a minor American comedian with no SNL resume?! Well, of course you are. Oh, you know him from Soul Plane . I’m sorry, but do you want that? I’d have real problems with people 
only recognizing me from Soul Plane– it’s like being known as the kid who eats his boogers or the kid who peed on the school bus … or my favorites from personal experience – the kid I hit in the head with the beanbag and the kid I wished I’d hit in the head with the beanbag. Sorry, first kid.
Kevin Hart is better than Soul Plane.
Kevin’s stand-up is littered with foul language – not a strong sign; the material should speak for itself. It’s also littered with fire. Deciding that a cool concert effect is the occasional stage flare, he decided, “why not me?” and periodically summons fire to punctuate otherwise weak or down moments in his stand up. It’s hard not to like a man who arbitrarily summons fire for entertainment purposes. Kevin is very good at understanding his own strengths, like reality exaggeration and brutal honesty, and playing to them. Take, for instance, a scene in which he “catches” a soon-to-be ex going down on another man in a car. “What would you do?” he asks. Could you be the guy who forces the action and attacks the man in the car? An audience member says, “sure!” Kevin contradicts, “you haven’t thought this through.” And then he describes in great detail a scuffle with an exposed man as a potentially life-scarring possibility. It’s crude, yes, but definitely funny. And left me, sadly, wanting a little more. Of Kevin Hart, of course, not the exposed man … well, hmmmm.
Though defensive about standing apart
Kevin’s decidedly skilled at his art
If you’re not buying
There’s still no denying
His stand-up has a great deal of Hart
Rated R, 75 Minutes
D: Leslie Small, Tim Story
W: (Kevin Hart)
Genre: Little Man, Big Curses
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Stand up fans
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Prudes
