A group of troublemakers are forced to attend night school in hope that they’ll pass the GED exam to finish high school.
Based on Tiffany Haddish’s breakout role in “Girls Trip,” there was no way I thought that a serious role for her would work, much less with the indomitable Kevin Hart making a case to be serious right along with her, but obviously the Script Gods knew just how much they could get away with. Comedians Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish play the roles of student (Teddy Walker) and teacher (Carrie) in a rough and tumble display of compassion that goes the extra mile in proving that humility, courage, and longsuffering, are necessary in order to accomplish goals in life.
As the film opens, Teddy Walker (Kevin Hart) is the class clown at Piedmont High School, who doesn’t value education in the overall spectrum of life. He doesn’t fit in with the school crowd and gives up on himself because he is tired of competing with his overachieving sister, classmates who have already determined his fate, and parents who just don’t understand. He vows that he can achieve success on the streets and he will prove everyone wrong. Fast forward seventeen years later and Teddy is highly successful in his career as a salesperson for Joe’s BBQ City conglomerate. He has fallen in love with beautiful, well-to-do Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and feels like he can finally be comfortable in his own skin. No sooner than Joe admits that Teddy is just like a son to him and he wants him to take over should anything happen to him, the place catches on fire due to Teddy’s neglect and he spends the greater part of the rest of his life trying to recover. Teddy’s friend and personal consultant, Marvin (Ben Schwartz), promises he will give him a new job, but he must meet the minimum requirements of getting his high school diploma or GED.
Teddy’s quest to get his GED turns into a journey that tests everyone’s patience. When he decides to run by his old Piedmont High to see who he can coerce into helping him, he finds out that his antagonizing classmate Stewart (Taran Killam), whom he never got along with, is the school’s no-nonsense, “Mean Joe Green” principal, and he is all but doomed a few steps down the hall later when he stumbles upon Carrie (Tiffany Haddish), the lady he got into a hilarious, name-calling and shouting match, at the intersection a few days before and the current and only night school teacher.
The remainder of the film is hell-bent hilarious and chock full of opportunities for loss, growth, and redemption as Teddy learns the hard way that he can’t swindle his way into a GED. The class full of societal rejects which includes Bobby (Fat Joe), skyping from prison, is his only source for comfort and motivation as he attempts to find a way to get his life back in order by doing the right thing, the right way. Director Malcolm D. Lee, along with producers Kevin Hart, James Lopez, Glenda L. Wilkerson, and Will Packer, do an amazing job with a cast of woeful and amusing characters who help shape and reprioritize Teddy’s life into something of purpose. In between the laughs, there is a gracious amount of lessons to learned by all, and we all are more educated throughout the process.
Available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD January 1st
