Starring Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart. Rated 14A. Now playing

You can debate whether Get Hard is racist and homophobic, or whether it’s a clumsy attempt to satirize the racism and homophobia of privileged white people. Frankly, the film isn’t a drag because it’s offensive; it’s because virtually everyone in it is unpleasant and uninterested in being there.

The set-up had promise. Will Ferrell plays James King, a financier who’s arrested for securities fraud and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum-security facility to send the message that white-collar criminals won’t get the Club Med treatment anymore. Yay!

But instead of whisking James to jail and watching him mix with people he’s mindlessly exploited all his life, the film shelves this pay-off in favour of watching him bond with the guy he hires to prepare him for the big house—Darnell (Kevin Hart), the black man who washes James’ car and whom James assumes is a former felon.

They’re both exploiting each other, which is unpleasant, but the film pussies out on exploring any underlying racial resentment by making sure we know they’re really nice guys: Darnell just needs the money to move his family to a safer neighbourhood and honestly tries to do right by James, while James is innocent and shouldn’t be incarcerated. He’s the victim of his evil father-in-law (Craig T. Nelson) and gold-digging fiancée (Alison Brie). Pfffttt. Where’s the satire in that?

All of James’s prison prep hinges on the idea that he’s sure to get raped there, which would be bad no matter your orientation, but the film’s relentless dick-disgust is what makes it homophobic. Want to see Ferrell on his knees crying because he’s about to practice fellating someone? On what planet is that funny? Despite Hart’s manic energy and Ferrell’s studied doltishness, both look like they know what they’re doing here is lame. That’s not hard to get.