‘Kevin Hart: Don’t Fuck This Up’ Review (Netflix)
I have to say I am not particularly a massive fan of Kevin Hart as his style of comedy is personally not one that I am interested in but his new Netflix original show Don’t Fuck This Up has really given me a new perspective on him as a person!
These “inside look into artists lives” style programmes have become very popular recently and has seen many artists discuss how they got to where they are now (celebrities such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Cameron Dallas to name a few) and this show was everything you would expect. It contained honest and candid interviews about Kevin’s life, where he opened up and talked about his struggles and things that have affected him growing up and because of this, it’s not an action-packed show instead it’s more subdued with more hard-hitting themes. Due to this, we are able to see the side of Kevin that many people don’t know about.
What was a particular surprise to me is how hard Kevin works as he obviously does stand-up, acting but also runs a radio show and runs his own production company. It was really nice to see all the things he does but it was particularly great for him to talk about how tired and exhausting it can get rather than playing it off like some sort of superhuman who is never affected by normal every day things. Things occurred again later in the series where Kevin talks about his film Night School and actually involves the negative reviews which are something very few artists are brave enough to do so he should be praised for showing many of the sides of fame people don’t think about.
Don’t Fuck This Up opens in an extremely controversial manner as it discusses his scandal with the Oscars. The show discusses the potentially offensive tweets later in the series but only in the final few episodes. I think the space between the opening scandal and the explanation, in the end, was far too long and made the audience think that it was never going to be resolved or that they simply wanted to forget about it which did at times make for an uncomfortable watch. Although it was structurally pleasing for the show to open and end with the Oscar scandal as it framed the narrative really well. This show does contain strong language and themes throughout meaning that it is suitable for a more mature audience rather than for younger viewers.
The purpose of these types of shows is to, obviously, promote the artist it is about which this show definitely did. As I said, I have a newfound appreciation for Kevin Hart which I would never have gotten if it wasn’t for Don’t Fuck This Up, so in that regard this show did exactly what it need to do. This show very much showed off Kevin Hart and there were appearances from many other celebrities (Idris Elba, Tiffany Haddish, Samuel L Jackson) which really helped to solidify Kevin’s status and celebrity level. This boasting is, at times, grating because as a viewer you want to know the behind the scenes stuff. After all, you already know that he is a famous person so that was difficult to watch at times.
Overall, Kevin Hart: Don’t Fuck This Up was an interesting show that gave me a new perspective on Kevin Hart. It follows exactly the same format as the celebrity features from other series, which I personally am getting bored of if I am honest, but did everything it needed to do. I would encourage any Kevin Hart fans to watch his series Don’t Fuck This Up on Netflix as you will almost defiantly learn something new!
