The film "Night School" is about a high school dropout, Teddy Walker, played by Kevin Hart, in his mid 30s who ends up struggling in his life after losing his job because of an accident during a date with his girlfriend Lisa, played by Megalyn Echikunwoke.
Walker’s high school friend, Marvin, played by Ben Schwartz, recommended him a new job but it required Walker to have a GED.
With no other options, Walker has to go to his old high school to get his GED. He eventually learns that his high school arch nemesis, Stewart, played by Taran Killam, is now the principal.
Stewart was a bland antagonist. He was your typical guy who wanted revenge over Walker because he was teased a lot by him.
I also thought Killam’s performance was pretty lackluster when he was trying to be funny.
Walker thought he could ease his way to getting a GED by being manipulative and slick. Unfortunately, Stewart knows Walker very well and lied to him about having a night school.
Carrie, a teacher played by Tiffany Haddish, gets into an argument with Stewart about her schedule. Walker would eventually discover that his high school does in fact have a night school.
Carrie was one of the better characters. She was very honest and gave me some sort of excitement to see how this character would impact Walker who is just trying to ease his way to a GED.
A good example was when Carrie found out the class must've cheated because the scores were too good to be true. Walker admits it was his idea and was kicked out of the course.
Walker begged Carrie for a second chance, which he gets, and everything seemed to be smooth sailing, but it wasn’t.
Lisa finds out Walker was hiding the truth from her about how he lost his old job and why he has been attending a night school to get his GED.
Lisa broke up with Walker, which caused him to lose motivation to try, but he eventually found that motivation from Stewart and Carrie and graduates with his classmates. Walker eventually faces Lisa and admits who he is as a person and they end up getting back together.
The movie had its funny moments here and there. I did enjoy the scene where Walker tries to overcome his dyslexia and Carrie ends up putting him in a boxing match where she would ask him questions.
Walker would have to answer properly and if he didn't, Carrie would show off her boxing skills to intimidate him as an incentive to try.
The problem with the movie is that it's too predictable. There is a scene where Walker and the gang try to steal the answer sheet for the midterm and eventually try to escape the school by going to the rooftop.
One of the side characters, Big Mac, played by Rob Riggle, was trying to make a jump from one building to another, but was scared because he knows he couldn't jump that far.
Mac did try to make the jump after being encouraged by his classmates and he obviously didn't make it and ends up falling down to the floor uncomfortably. I think this was supposed to be funny, but it just felt cringy and I felt the actors were just trying too hard.
I found myself going through the motions the majority of the time while watching the film, and I think the jokes were too childish.
Overall, the movie felt pretty bland. Although I did like its concept, it’s definitely worth a skip.
2 out of 5 stars
