Updated: April 1, 2:25 p.m.

This past weekend the dynamic duo of Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart swept across the nation as “Get Hard” opened in theaters. Statistically, it was a success for both Ferrell and Hart as the pair earned their highest opening weekend for an R-rated movie in each of their careers.

Regrettably, “Get Hard” failed to wow as the writing and directing were subpar and unimpressive. The only salvation was Ferrell and Hart doing what they do best —they worked with what they had and “said it with their chests.”

“Get Hard” focuses on a Los Angeles business banker investor, James King (Ferrell) who is set up for bank fraud and receives the maximum sentence of ten years in San Quentin Penitentiary. Afraid of being abused or killed in jail King hires his carwasher Darnell Lewis (Hart) to train him to survive prison — to “Get Hard.”

As a fan of both actors I was really looking forward to this movie. Hart has been on the top of his game as of late and is considered to be one of the funniest men alive in this generation.

Ferrell on the other hand hasn’t been on the radar in recent months. The last big blockbuster he was in was the smash hit “Lego Movie.” So for Ferrell, “Get Hard” was a homecoming for him in the comedy world, trying to show people he has still got it.

Director Etan Cohen had some room to play alongside these two star-studded actors in his arsenal and still failed to deliver the perfect comedy with the resources he had. I was sad to see this happen because I am a fan of Cohen’s past work such as “Men in Black III” and “Tropic Thunder.”

But I think the main flaw of this movie was the decision to have “Key and Peele” writers Jay Martel and Ian Roberts make the screenplay, as they had no idea how to fully utilize all the tools at their disposal when it came to Hart and Ferrell. This movie definitely could have been way better with some fine tuning to the script. They also depended heavily on a barrage of inside jokes used from Hart’s stand up comedy specials to fill in the original work of the script.

The formula of comedy that was used in this movie was overused and outplayed as the majority of jokes were racist or sexist. It seemed like there had to be a racial joke in every scene. It was unnecessary, but, of course, it was there.

The character development was average for each character but lacked an emotional connection you want from the audience. If there were any heart to heart moments in this movie it was quickly ruined by a raunchy or provocative joke. But what can you expect? Will Ferrell has been using this recipe to make movies for years.

Overall, the chemistry between Hart and Ferrell saved this movie from being a complete and utter disaster.