Checked out the new Kevin Hart / Tiffany Haddish comedy Night School.
The flick stars Hart as a slick rick who dropped out of high school but fell into a decent career as a grill salesman. He’s in a relationship with a much more successful woman who he constantly lies to about his income and general success. He’s too proud to admit his life isn’t going as planned. When he loses that job, other prospects require a high school diploma so he goes to night school to get his GED.
This isn’t a bad movie but it seem under-written, relying too much maybe on improv comedy. Unfortunately, not all that comedy worked and there wasn’t enough characterization of Hart’s fellow students… or, rather, the movie wants us to care more about them more than we can.
Oddly, Kevin Hart’s character is just unlikable enough that making him the lead is kind of a problem. Yes, he has to learn his lesson and become a better person, but that doesn’t make his presence any less of fingers on a chalkboard. But I kept thinking that Tiffany Haddish’s character should have been the star of the movie. A smart, tough, street-smart teacher who wants to do right by her day students and these night shift reprobates. She was far more interesting than him.
Overall, I laughed just enough and the emotional strings tugged just enough at the end to marginally recommend the flick. I suspect if you are a Kevin Hart (or Tiffany Haddish) fan, you’ll like it just fine.
Score: 74