Review: "The Night School" Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Some Laughs

In "Night School", Kevin Hart plays a student in an adult education class and Tiffany Haddish plays his teacher. In writing this sentence, I am afraid of having raised too high expectations. But now I may have lowered them too much. It's not that this ragged comedy, directed by Malcolm D. Lee, is bad, exactly. He proposes a concept – summarized in the title – and follows it up to a logical conclusion. But it's not really good either.

In addition to Mr. Hart and Ms. Haddish, the cast includes a group of reasonably (and in some cases, unexpectedly) entertaining performers, including Romany Malco, Fat Joe, Rob Riggle and Mary Lynn Rajskub. They have the right to be more ridiculous than either of the two stars, who have the heavy task of providing a sentimental ballast that no one really needs. Good teachers are a blessing, and believing in yourself is important, but there are many other films that deliver these lessons more effectively than this one.

Even though he does not have a high school diploma – the result of an anti-normalized anger crisis – Teddy Walker (Mr Hart) has had success in life. A good sales job, a brilliant Porsche, a beautiful fiancée (Megalyn Echikunwoke). An accident (propane, candle) costs him work and getting another – in finance, working with his best friend (Ben Schwartz) – Teddy needs a G.E.D. He enrolled in a class taught by Carrie (Mrs. Haddish) and assisted by a motley crew of wrestlers. Classes take place in Teddy's former high school (the movie takes place in Atlanta), where it happens to be his nemesis (Taran Killam).

The plot zigzags and sometimes speeds up in the sense of real hilarity – when Teddy takes a job at a fast food restaurant called Christian Chicken, every time Mr. Malco opens his mouth or Mrs. Rajskub blinks eyes – to demote, jokes and easy gags. As for the comedic talents of Mr. Hart and Mrs. Haddish, "Night School" (directed under the auspices of Mr. Hart's production company) is less a showcase than a series of teasers. Teddy and Carrie meet for the first time in traffic as he hears an absurd and profane conversation on his mobile phone. Later, they train verbally and even physically (in a kickboxing ring with appropriate equipment).

You can not help but think that someone should put these two in a movie together. A real movie, including "Night School," like more of a few great studio features these days, is not quite right. It's less sad than "Party life," which also returned his star (Melissa McCarthy, in case you forgot). But there is not the cliché and surprise of "Girls Trip" (the breakthrough of Ms. Haddish, led by Mr. Lee), or the anarchy of the "Ride Along" movies, which have associated Mr. Hart with Ice Cube . Like Teddy, the movie does not wait more than a passing grade.