Hart, Haddish go toe-to-toe in ensemble comedy ‘Night School’
By Rodney Ho
During the week before any of his films come out, producer Will Packer said he always feels a mixture of anxiety and excitement.
“I’ve had some pretty good opening weekends,” Packer said in an interview, “probably better than most. I’m a little spoiled in that respect. I’ve got high expectations.”
Indeed, his latest comedic vehicle “Night School” (out today) has all the ingredients for a big hit: an easyto-absorb concept (misfits try to get GEDs), two of the hottest stars on the planet (Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish), an ensemble of amusing talent (e.g., Rob Riggle, Taran Killam, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Romany Malco, Al Madrigal) and the director of the monster hit “Girls Trip” (domestic gross: $148 million).
Movieweb is projecting a decent $18 million opening for “Night School,” but it could easily go higher.
Packer knows how to produce hits on modest budgets, from “The Gospel” (domestic box office: $16 million) and “Stomp the Yard” ($75 million) to “Think Like a Man” ($96 million) and two “Ride Along” films (combined: $280 million). This is also the first time Hart’s new production company has developed a film with Packer’s company.
“I’ve tried to be very specific and strategic with the kind of movies I make and the budgets I spend on them,” Packer said. “I am always working within a really efficient budget level.”
“Night School,” Packer said, was made for under $30 million. “Hollywood nowadays doesn’t make a lot of movies in that range,” Packer said. “They’re in the business of home runs. Not a lot of people can make movies at this level and make real money.”
Hart himself has become a box-office heavy hitter, many with Packer. “Night School” doesn’t change the formula for Hart: He plays a likable man with fundamentally good intentions and a motor mouth. In this case, his character, Todd, has undiagnosed learning disabilities that prevented him from finishing high school. Seventeen years later, he needs to get a GED to join a friend’s financial company. He hides the fact he’s taking the night school class from his more successful fiancee.
Haddish, as his GED teacher, shot this film right after her breakthrough role on “Girls Trip” and goes toeto-toe with Hart and literally on the mat at one point in an MMA cage.
There isn’t a whole lot of consistent character development, but the talented cast is able to spread the laughs out well. Madrigal shines especially bright as a waiter with aspirations to be both a pop superstar and a dental hygienist who pronounces “hygienist” in a super weird way.
Rajskub, best known as sarcastic tech nerd Chloe O’Brian on “24,” embraces her naturally comedic side as one of Hart’s classmates, a high school dropout mom who wants more out of life. She wrings plenty of funny moments in a type of big broad comedy she’s never been in before. She even gets an emotional moment near the end.
“The script was really funny,” she said. “There was some heart to it. And it’s a true ensemble piece.”
“Night School” was “different for me and exciting,” Rajskub noted. She loved the atmosphere director Malcolm D. Lee, the producers and fellow actors created, calling them “generous and fun.” Even overnight shoots, she said, involved plenty of off-screen giggling and laughing.
And watching Hart was a marvel, she said. “He’s just a force,” she said. “He never stops. He works 12-hour days with us, then does stadium stand-up shows on weekends.”
Hart, added Packer, “is one of the most giving and selfless people in this industry.”