Hart, Haddish are aces in so-so ‘Night School’
Two of Hollywood’s biggest class clowns hit the books in “Night School,” which fumbles a few tests but passes in the end.
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee (“Girls Trip”), the ensemble comedy ( ★★g☆; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Friday) stars the dynamic pairing of Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, plus a talented bench that fills out its cast of struggling misfits hoping to turn their lives around by studying for the GED. Mostly predictable (though with a few pleasant swerves) and boasting a narrative that could be a lot tighter, “Night School” surprises by being an unexpectedly empathetic look at learning disabilities.
Teddy Walker (Hart) has been called dumb most of his life – in his Atlanta high school when he freaked out while taking a standardized test and as an adult after dropping out. Still, Teddy has carved out a successful career selling barbecue equipment and has a beautiful fiancee (Megalyn Echikunwoke), though he goes to great financial lengths to impress and keep her around.
A romantic interlude with his main squeeze at Teddy’s work leads to the place going up in flames and him out of a job. His best friend (Ben Schwartz) can get him a financial adviser gig if Teddy can get his GED, which leads him back to his high school, where an old rival is now the hard-nosed principal (a scenestealing Taran Killam) and there’s a night class taught by Carrie (Haddish), an overworked albeit caring teacher.
Her oddball students are more “Bad News Bears” than “Dead Poets Society.”
Rob Riggle plays a retired mover who’s taking the test as a deal to keep his kid in school, Romany Malco is a tech-hating factory worker who was replaced by a robot, Anne Winters plays a young girl being forced to graduate by her parents, Mary Lynn Rajskub is a stay-at-home mom needing to get out of the house, rapper Fat Joe’s character is in prison but Skypes into class and Al Madrigal is a Mexican immigrant yearning to be Justin Timberlake or a dental hygienist (he’ll take whatever he can get).
Hart is his usual highly caffeinated self, with a whole subplot involving him slinging poultry at a Christian chicken joint, though he’s at his best bonding with classmates during some late-night test-stealing shenanigans and acting as a fun foil opposite Haddish.
She also tends toward over-the-top antics in her other work (see: “Girls Trip”) yet sparkles here in a more grounded role: Carrie calling Teddy a “burnt leprechaun” and throwing him around an MMA cage works much better with a lower-key personality.
The central pairing also gets some emotional moments where Carrie takes Teddy aside to figure out why he’s having trouble learning: When Teddy is faced with math and word problems, shapes and letters jump off the page and buzz around him like bothersome bees. The supporting players also get minor story lines but are unfortunately backburnered in favor of the main twosome, to the movie’s detriment.
Hart will never have a better onscreen partner than Dwayne Johnson (”Central Intelligence,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”), though Haddish is easily a close second.
And once you get past the hit-andmiss jokes and broader comedy bits – vomit in the face, twerking aplenty, and the rest – “Night School” is pretty aces when it wants to be.