HIGH SCHOOL FARCICAL
NIGHT SCHOOL DIRECTOR: Malcolm D Lee CAST: Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart, Rob Riggle, Taran Killam, and Romany Malco RUNNING TIME: 112 minutes
CLASSIFICATION: 16 LPV RATING: ★★★✩✩
THIS is another Kevin Hart comedy. Expect to hear short jokes. Many, many of them. Part of the reason I enjoyed the film is the physical comedy of Tiffany Haddish. I fell in love with her when I saw her on Girls Trip where a majority of the comedy was driven by Haddish.
In this film, Carrie (Haddish) is an educator who takes on a Night School class to make extra cash. Teddy (Hart) is a high school dropout and playboy trying to keep up a lie. He ends up having to go back to high school to get his GED after his house of cards threatens to come tumbling down. With Carrie as his teacher and his former high school nemesis Stewart (Taran Killam) as the school’s principal, the stage is set for an adventure and a half.
The film tackles learning disabilities in a way that’s humorous, without making sufferers the butt of the joke – that was part of the reason why Teddy left high school was because of learning disabilities. So the night school opens up the opportunity for it to be addressed.
I also simply loved the film’s soundtrack – opening with TI’s You Can Have Whatever You Like, then the prom scene that lends itself to Outkast’s Hey Ya. What was also appealing was that the film tackled, in a light-hearted way, race and cultural appropriation. Stewart has a little Black Problem, deliberately mimicking how black people speak to sound current and cool. It’s funny in the film, but also a nudge to remind us about respect. The film also makes a subtle commentary on the inadequacies of the public schooling system. Deliberate or not, it failed Teddy. It’s a funny film that sometimes ventures into overkill, but it’s worth a good hearty laugh.