Kevin Hart’s ‘Zero F**ks Given’ Review

Kevin Hart has easily been establishing himself as one of the greatest comedians of this generation. Alongside comedy giants like Dave Chapelle and Chris Rock, Hart’s career has grown substantially over the years, making many of us feel as though we’ve been along for the ride, watching him flourish and grow from the small comedy club circuit to now owning his own production company with a long list of hysterical films under his belt. As a successful black man, he’s an inspiration to us all and has used his outreach and platform to help and influence others, so much so that even Time Magazine included him in their 100 most influential people list. Fans have seen him go through thick and thin, up and downs, and despite the moments where things really got low, he has never faltered, always putting out stand up specials, films and other content pretty much every year. This bring us to his newest special, ‘Zero F**ks Given‘, where Hart shares with us his latest insight on everything from the celebrity life to the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Zero F**ks Given’ opens with Kevin Hart giving us something fans have come to expect and respect about Hart – a look at his home and beautiful family. Something I’ve always come to admire about him, ever since his first special ‘I’m a Grown Little Man‘ was the impression that he takes pride in being a father. Just about all of his standup and other creative works somehow find a way to play on him being a dad or involves his children in some way.

As he departs from his family, we follow him as he reverts to chill mode, pours himself a drink and walks through a hallway lined with large pictures of legendary comedians, including such names as Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. He sort of pays his respects to those names that describes as some of his biggest influences before walking out onto a stage with a fireplace behind it, and a social distanced, mask wearing audience.

Creative and Innovative as Always

It turns out that Hart had a stage built into his living room for the shooting of this special, and created a safe environment for himself and the audience to enjoy the show. This is yet another extension of what Kevin Hart always does best, which is to give audiences and fans more than just a taping of a standup special. A great example of the first time I remember recognizing this was his 2011 film ‘Laugh At My Pain‘ which was part documentary, part standup special and ended with a hilarious bank robbery skit. It seems he is always going out of his way to give fans more than what they bargained for and even in attempts that might not 100% land, it’s still admirable in some way.

He also seems adamant and open to building a relationship with his fans, never being afraid to cut himself open a bit to reveal what’s truly inside. So this film taking place in his home while he does comedy in his pajamas, while a bit cheesy at first, is truly fitting for someone like Hart.

In Conclusion

While this is not my favorite standup special Kevin Hart has put out, it’s worth the watch if you are a fan of his comedy. He has never been known to do super deep or wildly existential humor, or even talk much on politics, so I believe a lot of his fans enjoy that aspect of his comedy and this film is no different. He opens up about his experience with contracting COVID and manages to make light of something that has ravaged pretty much every facet of life for pretty much everyone. He talks a lot about fatherhood and gives hilarious stories about raising teenagers. And while he doesn’t mention the debacle with him not hosting the Oscars, an incident that nearly tanked his career, he does give some insight into how being famous isn’t quite as much fun as it used to be.

Again, I didn’t find it as gut-wrenching funny as say ‘Grown Little Man’ but there were definitely a few bits that had me dying. And I appreciate that his comedy feels like a bit of a distraction from all the things pretty much everyone talks about, such as politics and race issues. All of the elements that fans have come to love about Kevin Hart are here, making it definitely worth the watch.