Night School runs out of steam as quickly as it runs out of jokes

By Felicity Gardner, Second Year Physics

Tiffany Haddish is underused in the latest Kevin Hart comedy, which is unoriginal and underdeveloped.

Night School follows Teddy (Kevin Hart) as he gets a promotion, proposes to his girlfriend and as that all falls apart when the barbeque shop he owns explodes, with him inside. His friend offers him a job as a financial advisor but to get it Teddy must first pass his General Education Diploma (GED).

To do this, he goes to night school while telling his fiancée that he is already working as a financial advisor. There, he meets a group of oddballs and - together with the help of their take-no-bullshit teacher, Carrie (Tiffany Haddish) - they try and get their GEDs to improve their lives.

The film starts well, the first few scenes having a couple of good laughs in each of them, but as the film goes on the laughs became fewer and more forced. Since the film goes on for so long, running at just under two hours, this becomes more of a problem and the last half is tiring to watch. The film could have been shortened without losing any of the jokes by cutting out some of the irrelevant plot lines.

Night School is at its best when focused on Hart and Haddish, both playing well against each other, even when arguing purely by throwing sarcastic compliments at each other. It is particularly enjoyable when they make fun of classic Kevin Hart-isms, such as his height and high-pitched voice. Haddish especially manages to make the dull script funny by bringing her own inimitable style to it. Ben Schwartz, of Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) fame, also gives an enjoyable performance, hitting the right comedic notes as Teddy’s closest friend.

Problems with the movie arise when Teddy's night school classmates, who are introduced as their comedic stereotypes, are not established well. Jokes based on their supposedly set up characteristics fall flat and it takes longer to realise something is supposed to be a running joke - especially when you don’t realise it’s a joke at all.

We are led to believe the night school class bonded together, despite seeing little evidence of it. Any moment that is supposed to be sweet between the group is quickly ruined by a - usually not funny - joke. Not only does the comedy fall short, but the music also detracts from the eagerly anticipated, fast paced exchanges between Carrie (Haddish) and Teddy (Hart).

The film could have been half-decent if the script contained more original jokes. Unfortunately, the script seems to have been written by someone who presumed none of the audience has seen any average sitcom, opting for jokes which are stale and dull.

Overall the concept of the movie would work better as a TV series with many plot lines being separate and not overarching or adding to the overall movie. In a series, more time could be spent on characterisations and the sparseness of the jokes would be more forgivable. The movie is less slapstick than the trailer advertises and Tiffany Haddish features less than expected. The first half is what you want and expect from a Kevin Hart comedy film, but it stalls midway through and ends up being an underwhelming experience.

Featured Image: IMDb / Night School / Universal Pictures

Who would you back in a roast battle between Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish?

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