KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW?

KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW? is the third comedy concert feature starring Hart and deals with various subjects including some innocuous topics and some lewd ones. KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW? seems to have mostly a Romantic worldview, in that Kevin talks mostly about living his life how he wants to live it. Though he seems to be a responsible father, he has a live-in fiancé and uses a lot of foul language throughout his act, plus many lewd gestures in the off-color parts of his stand-up routine.

The concert itself mostly focuses on his life amid massive success. It includes topics such as moving into the far suburbs of Los Angeles and dealing with a wild raccoon; how his children have “turned white” since going to private schools; the conflict between his poor upbringing in a ghetto and his rich life now and the colorful people in each part of his life; how being a celebrity leads to invasion of his privacy even in public restrooms; and, the frustrations he encountered recently ordering from the complicated coffee menu at Starbucks for the first time ever. He also speculates humorously on whether couples would stay together if a shark bit one person’s shoulder off, and the absurd quandaries women throw at the men with whom they’re involved.

Although Hart manages to touch on clever subject matter in many sequences of the concert, despite its profuse use of obscenities, he regrettably has two detours into graphic sexual material.

In one relatively brief sequence, Hart speculates on whether a woman would tolerate having sex with a man whose kneecaps were chewed off by a pitbull. In the other, longer sequence, however, he wastes ten minutes talking about how his fiancé packed an array of sex toys into his luggage when he departed for two weeks to make a movie, in the hopes he wouldn’t commit infidelity with an actual woman. Hart’s descriptions of masturbating with these objects, and wondering how women’s sex toys work, results in the movie wallowing figuratively in filthy immoral mud.

It’s clear Hart has plenty of talent as a performer, using physical comedy to excellent effect throughout his storytelling. About 90 percent of his stand-up topics would be clean and enjoyable for almost any age. Even in the worst segment on sex toys, he admits feeling wrong and shameful for his behavior.

His overall point of view on the world is not as lewd and offensive as some of his comedy and dialogue. Essentially, his worldview is a Romantic one where Hart talks mostly about living his life how he wants to live it. Thus, the biggest problem – and it’s a large one – is his sad, lazy dependence on using extreme obscenities and profanities throughout stories that might otherwise possess universal charm for a broad audience. Because of the constant foul language, KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW? might inspire viewers to answer the movie’s titular question loudly: Clean up your mouth, dude! Ultimately, KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW? is excessive, unacceptable entertainment for everyone.

Divorced from his first wife, with whom he has two children, Kevin Hart recently married his live-in girlfriend, after this concert movie was filmed.