Night School

Night School

Starring Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Rob Riggle, Megalyn Echikunwoke

Directed by Malcolm D. Lee

The Story:
Teddy Walker (Kevin Hart) is a high school dropout who's dating Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke), a successful businesswoman, and he tries hard to pretend that he's got it all together.  He has a fancy car, a fancy apartment, and puffs up his own importance in a way to make Lisa think he really is a big shot.  However, after causing a fire at the place he works, he has to return to school to get a GED so he can get a financing job with his high school friend, and doesn't tell Lisa about it.

The night school teacher Carrie (Tiffany Haddish) is a no-nonsense teacher who also has a strong desire to see her students succeed, and punctures through Teddy's facade to figure out Teddy's learning disabilities and how she can help him actually pass and get his GED without cheating.

The Pros:

Tiffany Haddish is actually more subdued than she has been in other films.  While her general performances are highly over-the-top and eventually grating, she actually gives a more balanced performance here that pleasantly surprised me.  As the night school teacher, she does maintain the generic teacher-motif you find in several films, but has charisma and personality that gives her a fully encompassing character.

The fellow students in the night school class all have their unique charms that make them very relatable to the viewing audience.  Theresa dropped out of high school to be a mother, but now she wants to further her own career and get out of her husband's shadow.  Mila was a troublemaker who chose night school instead of prison, and wants to go to college.  Jaylen wants to learn but also fears technology as the future cause of the apocalypse.  Mackenzie wants to get out of his backbreaking job, while Luis just got fired from his job thanks to Teddy, and wants to further a singing career.  Yet its Fat Joe's role as Bobby that steals the show, as a prisoner who takes the courses online as he beats down potential attackers as he learns about the Pythagorean theorem.

The film gives a strong message about the importance of second chances, and that nothing is out of reach if you work hard to achieve it.  There's even a quote I wrote down that spoke to me: "this is a minor setback before a major comeback."  

The Cons:

Kevin Hart is a very one-note actor.  If he's not acting alongside Dwayne Johnson, then he's simply not funny.  He maintains his typical character as a man who has a false sense of bravado, who has many flaws and is easily an insufferable character.

Hart's character has the traditional story arc of starting off as a liar and cheat, who learns the value of hard work, and emerges a better person.  That's no spoiler, it's basically what this film is - because there's dozens of similar films that follow the same vein.

Speaking of, the film also follows the traditional comedy movie pattern by having the main character lie about everything, even when it's totally not necessary (Teddy doesn't tell Lisa he's going to night school, even though she probably wouldn't care that he was), and then there's that moment where all the lies come to light, with the traditional fallout and eventual redemption.  Interesting to note that this film was written by six...six...people, when it could've been written by one person with half a brain.

The film also heralds back to the classic school comedies of the 80s by having Teddy's arch-nemesis from high school being the school principal, who of course sets out to destroy Teddy's life because of their previous encounters.  Again, it's a simple paint-by-numbers story with the most obvious outcome.

With a PG-13 rating, you can tell the film wanted to further its raunchy side, but since it wanted to appeal to a broader audience, it really toned down what could've been a decent R-rated comedy.


The film isn't funny, and that's saying something for a comedy.  There's a few moments of laughter, but overall it's tired and monotonous, where we just wait in eager anticipation for the final credits to roll.  For a film that's almost two hours, it's rather painful to sit through.

The Summary:
Kevin Hart once again delivers a dull, lifeless performance using his stale brand of comedy that results in an unfunny, unoriginal outing with every possible cliche you can imagine, and not even a more subdued Tiffany Haddish could save it.

The Score: D+