Night School is hilarious, silly and mindless fun, but don’t call it a dumb film. It’s got an Ivy League message that anything in life is possible if you only put your mind to it.
Ever since high school, ‘flunky’ Ted (Kevin Hart) doesn’t even register that his name Theodore has an ‘h’ in it. His parents are certain he needs help. His sister, Denise (Bresha Webb) ‘ball busts’ him at every turn. Nevertheless, he grows up to the be the Pitbull in sales as a Grill Master for the local outdoor furniture shop. But the very evening that he plans a special surprise for his fiancée, Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke) – who seems to expect a bit more ‘label’ in her brand – a slight snafu overturns his plan.
Now Ted’s only hope is to land a job that might lead to a career with his BFF (Ben Schwartz) who can help hook him up with “Corporate.” The only problem: Ted needs a High School Diploma. He never graduated.
Enter the teacher (Tiffany Haddish) who has as much sass as we’ve come to expect since her performance in Girlstrip. She’s the female version of Kevin Hart…droll, direct and with enough comic attitude to stop a Category 5 storm.
Night School takes place at Ted’s old Piedmont High which would be fine, except the very nerd Ted teased in high school is now the Principal (Taran Killam) with a touch of cynical revenge in his veins.
Ted is thrown in with a group of GED-seeking nerds in their own right. There’s the horny housewife bored with her three kids and wants freedom. There’s the waiter with dreams of becoming a Mexican Justin TImberlake or a Dental Hygienist – if only he can pronounce the title. And there’s the guy whose hips and joints are long-gone from the moving company he works at. If only he could own it….and so on. Pop quizzes, excuses, homework and even a temp job at Christian Chicken (a religious fanatical KFC) ensue in this laugh-out-loud comedy with a heart.
Each of them has a story. Each of them has a dream. And the films’ screwball theme falls to the wayside as the plot resonates independence, and honesty. It teaches our audience that success is measured by staying enthused through our failures. Hart is at his best, controlling the situation, owning the scene and certainly the Teacher’s Pet. Yes, Night School gets a straight A!