Kevin Hart movies have become must-see for me and my wife. Interestingly enough in Night School, the supporting characters had more to do with my enjoyment of the movie.
As cliched as I felt the movie would be before I actually watched it, Night School was surprisingly touching in certain moments and funny in others. Okay, most parts of the story were cliched, that's for sure. Kevin Hart plays Teddy Walker, a salesman who made an enemy or two in high school. One of those enemies, Stewart, comes back for revenge when they're adults as Teddy needs a shortcut to get a GED after losing his job. Teddy is embarrassed he lost his job and lies to his fiance while he secretly attends night school to get that GED. She finds out, of course, and she claims it was never about the money or the fancy lifestyle she had with Teddy (yeah, I'm sure that had nothing to do with it) that made her fall in love with him. She gives back the ring, so he has to win her back in the end.
The real spice and flavor of the movie was with Teddy's classmates, as well as his teacher. His teacher is Carrie, played by the outstanding Tiffany Haddish. Haddish may be the only actor I've seen who can keep up with Hart. She's got the attitude, the loud, over-the-top delivery style, and the facial prowess that Hart is so good at (especially during his comedy shows, half of which are built around him staring oddly into the camera and making loud, obnoxious noises). Carrie trash talks him from her convertible at a stoplight, she boxes and leg-whips him in the ring, and she sees right through his shenanigans in the classroom. The writers decided to make her a lesbian to shut down any possibility of a cliched romance story between her and Teddy (would've been too easy, so I'm glad they didn't go down that path).
His rag-tag ensemble of deadbeat classmates were hysterical as we meet them in the first class session in a very Breakfast Club-like scene. Jaylen was my favorite. He's a paranoid delusional who thinks a robotic takeover predicted in Terminator 2: Judgment Day is really happening. Mackenzie is a loser dad who is just trying to earn some respectability with his son. Theresa stands out; she's just loves her three kids and loser husband and doesn't at all want to come to class just to get a moment's peace. She also has a run-in with the principal during the group's robbery attempt, and she is forced to improvise by...shaking her booty and hitting on him. Let's just say she obviously hasn't practiced in a long time.
The other classmates included Bobby, who Skyped into class from prison (much to the chagrin of techno-phobic Jaylen), and Mila, the pretty young druggie dropout type who suddenly became motivated to try hard so she wouldn't end up like any of these classmates in 20 years.
When the movie became more than a rehashed mesh of recycled ideas was in the brief moments when these classmates turn into real people. The story turned into a promotional campaign for second chances in life. There was some genuine regret and motivation for these characters, who sought a bit of redemption knowing the world doesn't classify them as good enough the way they are.
There are a couple minor unexpected turns near the end as reality sets in, but in the end, it all works out. The comedy may have been average, and you've definitely hear this story many times before, there's enough care put into this movie to leave you with a sense it accomplished something.
THE WIFE'S TWO CENTS: She was a little disappointed. As a big fan of both, she expected a little more hilarity and laugh-out-loud moments from Haddish and Hart.
My rating: 6 out of 10
Wife's rating: 5 out of 10