Time To Get Schooled... "Night School"

Night School (2018)

Rated PG-13

Starring Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Rob Riggle, Romany Malco, Taran Killam

Directed by Malcom D. Lee

The Story:

High school dropout Teddy (Hart) has a job, a girlfriend and a bright future, until it all goes up in flames one night. In order to secure a brighter future, he's got to go back to school to receive his GED. But with a no-nonsense teacher like Ms. Carrie (Haddish) he may be in way over his head.

Malcolm D. Lee's greatest film, hands down, remains Undercover Brother.

In 2017, he helmed Girls Trip, which unleashed Tiffany Haddish on unsuspecting viewers and made her an instant star.

With a more family friendly tone in Night School, the director and stars are able to cobble together a very fun story that allows Hart and Haddish to bounce off one another, plus they are given an outstanding ensemble of comedic supporting cast mates to help flesh out the story.

Case in point: Add a mid-term exam heist by all of the students to stretch the film, further establish the supporting cast and add to the charm of the overall film.

They also avoid the overused teacher/student love interest in a big, foot-stomping kind of way.

We'll see if/how they try and turn this into a franchise down the road, but for now, the initial foray into Night School was well worth the trip.

We've Got Fun and Games! "Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle"

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blaine, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner

Directed by Jake Kasdan

The Story:

Four high schoolers (Wolff, Blaine, Iseman, Turner) are serving detention when they decide to take a break and play a video game on an old system they find in the room they've been assigned to clean up. They fire it up, and the next thing you know, they are sucked into the video game, Jumanji. Now inhabiting their selected avatars, they must work together to beat the game and get back to the real world without losing all of their lives.

Welcome to Jumanji!

If you saw the trailers, odds are good that you thought the movie looked fun.

The movie lived up to the trailer's hype, and when last I checked, this movie was actually still playing in some theaters in America, even though it is now officially released on digital download and blu-ray and DVD.

This is sort of unprecedented in an age when most movies are coming out for download or purchase 4 months after they premiere. To still be playing in over 1,000 theaters and earning $850,000 when the movie premiered before Christmas is a feat unlikely to be matched...

Until Black Panther. :)

Now, back to Jumanji...

I've never seen the original.

Sorry, somehow it fell through the cracks, and I've never bothered to see it over the last 25 years.

If you're like me, don't worry, you're not missing anything. The movie sets up exactly how and why everything that is happening is coming to fruition.

I don't see anything that flies in the face of the original either, so I would assume fans of that one will enjoy revisiting Jumanji.

What starts as a Breakfast Club moment as the four teens that really have not a lot in common with each other prior to detention turns into hilarity as they each find themselves in the bodies of characters from the video game.

Naturally, each character is about as opposite from the kids in the real world as can be.

I won't say much more so as not to spoil any of the fun, but I would like to acknowledge the following:

1) Jack Black steals this movie out from under everyone.
2) The Rock and Kevin Hart can feel free to continue teaming up and making movies forever.
3) Possibly the greatest screen kiss in the history of cinema is included in this film.

So if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it.

It's one of the few times in movie history you can find it still in theaters or available to watch at home.

That's pretty impressive.

Final Grade: A

Tra La Laaaaaa... "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie"

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)

Rated PG

Starring Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll,

Directed by David Soren

The Story:

George (Hart) and Harold (Middleditch) are best friends whose overactive imagination and love of comic books has landed them in trouble one time too often with Principal Krupp (Helms). To get them out of trouble, they hypnotize the principal into believing that he is the super-powered Captain Underpants. What could possibly go wrong?

Dreamworks Animation offers up a movie I would never have imagined watching in all my life.

I had seen the books in the libraries and bookstores over the years, and I always rolled my eyes and shook my head.

The artwork was always a turn off for me, and I had no desire to read whatever the story could be to my kids.

So here comes this one, and I groaned...

Until I saw the trailer.

Then I laughed.

So I figured, what the heck, how bad could it be?

It's from Dreamworks, and as I've mentioned before, their track record in our house runs a bit higher than Disney over the last decade.

Honestly, we were not disappointed.

The voice cast is tremendous, and the laughs and jokes are non-stop.

Plus, buried beneath the funny there's a little heart to the story about growing up tucked away in there as well.

Kudos to Ed Helms for double-duty as the stern principal and the goofy hero who alternate throughout the movie, often at the snap of the fingers.

I'm not sure if there will be a second movie, but if it is, we'll be there.

Final Grade: Solid B

I Should Have Let It Stay A Secret..."The Secret Life Of Pets"

The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Rated PG

Starring Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey,

Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney

The Story:

Max (Louis C.K.) is a terrier who lives a happy life with Katie (Kemper). Until one day she brings home a stray named Duke (Stonestreet) and the two just don't get along. Naturally, one day Max's attempt to get rid of Duke wind up with them both on the lam from the law, and when Snowball (Hart) shows them the seedy underside of abandoned pets in New York City, they both just want to get home as soon as possible.

Sound familiar?

Yep, it's the plot to Toy Story, only this time substitute pets for toys, and you're guaranteed a smash hit for the whole family.

Except for all the charm and heart, this movie forgot to add most of that in.

The framework for the story was already done for them by Pixar, Illumination Entertainment forgot to add in all the fun, excitement and warmth that made Toy Story an instant classic.

Instead, they relied on a host of funny comedians and hoped that they would be enough to make this one fun on its own.

Ooops.

Doesn't really work that way.

I think the two most enjoyable characters in the film were voiced by Albert Brooks and Dana Carvey, and they were minor characters that show up in the 2nd half of the film.

At the end of the day, it's not unwatchable.

I've just seen too many animated films by all the studios continually push that bar ever higher, and it's not enough, for me anyway, to just be an animated film to entice families to watch together.

Final Grade: C

Dynamic Duo... "Central Intelligence"

Central Intelligence (2016)   

Rated PG-13

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Jason Bateman, Aaron Paul

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber

The Story:

Calvin Joyner (Hart) is apprehensive about his impending 20 year high school reunion. The man voted most likely to succeed has felt like anything but successful in the ensuing decades, his best days seemingly far behind him. When he accepts a friend request from Bob Stone (Johnson), it turns out that it's a former classmate who was bullied in high school, but Calvin stood up for him once upon a time. The two reunite, and Bob tells Calvin that he needs his accounting skills to help him find the elusive Black Badger!

Kevin Hart has grown on me over the past few years.

Starting as a supporting cast member, he usually made the movies he was in better, graduating into leading man or at least supporting lead actor in a film.

When paired with the right actor, he forms a great comedy tandem.

Thankfully, he's paired with The Rock, Dwayne Johnson.

This time, Johnson gets to play the action hero again, but in a much more comic role, and with faults and foibles that normally he doesn't get to use in most films.

The results are comedic gold, and it may be an eye-opening film for a lot of moviegoers who may not be used to seeing Johnson displaying his comedic chops.

The movie even keeps you guessing on whether or not Bob really is a traitor or not, so Thurber delicately balances the fun with the action and it combines to be a fun movie for the whole family.

Plus, when any movie gets the "Mom Seal of Approval" by my lovely wife wanting to see it again the same week...

Well, that's a winner in my book.

Welcome to the first contender for Best of the Year 2017 status!

Final Grade: B+ 

Undercover Brothers..."Ride Along 2"

Ride Along 2 (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter, Benjamin Bratt, Olivia Munn, Ken Jeong,

Directed by Tim Story

The Story:

Ben (Hart) is getting married to Angela (Sumpter) soon, but before the wedding, he has to head to Florida with James (Cube) on assignment. There they begin to unravel a plot thanks to AJ (Jeong) that implicates a very wealthy businessman (Bratt) who the local police (Munn) refuse to believe could possibly be dirty.

In other words, if you enjoyed the first Ride Along, you should have just as good of a time, or better, on their latest trip.

I've enjoyed both films. They were good, but I'd like to see better by the time the 3rd one rolls around.

Ice Cube is great, as usual, and works really well with Kevin Hart.

Hart is an actor that has grown on me over the years, and I've enjoyed his performances more and more as I've watched him.

He's like a short Chris Tucker.

:)

Now put those two together in a movie, and let's see what happens.

Anyway, the movie is fun, the cast seems to have some genuine chemistry among them, and I'd happily return for the next ride if they're willing to make it.

That, or have these guys crossover with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys: The Ride Along and I'll be there opening night!

Final Grade: B-

Going To Prison? Better "Get Hard" First!

Get Hard (2015)

Rated R

Starring Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T. Nelson, Alison Brie

Directed by Etan Cohen

The Story:

James (Ferrell) is a well-to-do stock broker who has it all: the girl (Brie) he's going to marry who's dad (Nelson) is the boss where James works. However, when James is accused of fraud and sentenced to the harshest sentence possible, he decides he needs to spend the month prior to going to jail getting ready for life in the big house.  So he hires Darnell (Hart) who will train him to 'Get Hard' for life in prison. This is merely the assumption by James because Darnell is black, therefore, statistically speaking, he must have done time.

So there you go.

Statistically speaking, this movie should be uproariously funny, however, it doesn't quite click on all cylinders from start to finish.

I still enjoyed it, and Ferrell and Hart make a pretty good duo and they both elicit their fair share of funny moments.

Sometimes movies like this are difficult to pull off with two great funny actors as the duo. One often has to play the straight man to allow the other to pull off the comedy bit.

The movie allows for both to trade off to get the laugh in one scene and play it straight in the next.

For the most part, it works and was fun, but with a bit more time and effort the results could have been epic.

Final Grade: C+/B- range.

"The Wedding Ringer" Will Solve All Of Your Problems

The Wedding Ringer (2015)

Rated R

Starring Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting,

Directed by Jeremy Garelick

The Story:

Doug (Gad) is getting married to Gretchen (Sweeting), but he's got a major problem: He's got no real friends to be his Best Man or his Groomsmen. He's made up some names, but now the date is dangerously close, and he's got nothing to do... but hire Jimmy (Hart) from Best Man Inc. For a modest fee, he will provide all of your best man services, and even keeps up the charade years after the nuptials as required. However Doug needs some serious help, and Jimmy is going to need to pull off the biggest job of his career to make this wedding go off without a hitch!

I have to admit, this was a pretty funny movie.

Hart is so energetic and fun, it's hard not to laugh when he is on a roll. Thankfully, he is given a lot of room to have fun pulling off his con, if you will, throughout the film.  Normally a very smooth operator, he is stuck having to work at a disadvantage because Doug created an insane backstory that has to be utilized for all the family.

Gad works in the role as a nerdy, you can't believe he's going to marry the girl that is so obviously out of his league.

Which, the movie telegraphs a bit too much what is going to happen from beginning to end, but overall, it's not a horrible thing, especially in a comedy.

Couple this film with Hitch, and you begin to wonder if there really is a service out there like these, and if not...

why not?

Seems like roping in a ringer might be quite helpful in some situations.

Final Grade: B-

Nothing Ever Truly Stays In Vegas... "Think Like A Man Too"

Think Like A Man Too (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Megan Good, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union, Terrence Jenkins, Romany Malco

Directed by Tim Story

The Story:

All of the couples from Think Like A Man return as they prepare for the marriage of Michael and Candace (Jenkins & Hall) in Vegas. Cedric (Hart) has the whole thing under control as Best Man and wants to make sure everyone has the night of their lives.

Naturally, everything is about to go off course in a most spectacular fashion!

A great cast attempts to lift the usual shenanigans for a bachelor party in Vegas to lofty heights.

It doesn't work, but at least they try. ;)

There's nothing bad about the film.

Each of the couples' issues will be mostly resolved by the end of the film.

And yes, they even manages to make it to the altar before it's all over.

So the bottom line, if you enjoyed the first film, you won't mind spending about 90 minutes with some old friends.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Amusing but no need to revisit anytime soon.

We Need To Talk "About Last Night"

About Last Night (2014)

Rated R for language and situations

Starring Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Michael Ealy, Joy Bryant

Directed by Steve Pink

The Story:

Bernie (Hart) and Joan (Hall) hit it off on a date, so naturally they hoped to hook up their best friends Danny (Ealy) and Debbie (Bryant) and maybe those two would hit it off and be happy.  And they do, and they are for some time.  However into every life some reality will come, and when the going gets tough, will these couples fight to keep a relationship, or simply go their separate ways?

A romantic comedy/dramedy remake of a 1986 film starring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore that I never bothered to get around to watching.

Given what I've seen of this film, there's no big loss, though they do offer a nice meta-moment by having the characters in this film watch that film during the movie.

Clever.

This movie is watchable, but not very memorable.

The best part of the movie is probably the unleashing of Hart and Hall to literally go at it (figuratively and literally) in the movie.  So over-the-top, you can't help but laugh at their conversations.

However, they are supposed to be second-fiddle to the main love story, so when the main story is kind of boring...

That doesn't exactly set this up for a memorable picture.

So yes, it's watchable, but on the list of recent Kevin Hart pictures or romantic comedy/dramedy, this one comes in a dead last place.

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Once was enough.  Hopefully this doesn't get remade again in 30 years.

You're Invited For A Little "Ride Along"

Ride Along (2014)

Rated PG-13 for language and violence

Starring Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter, John Leguizamo, Laurence Fishburne

Directed by Tim Story:

The Story:

Ben (Hart) is a security guard in love with Angela (Sumpter).  However, her big brother, James (Cube) is an Atlanta detective who doesn't approve of the relationship.  In order to get rid of Ben, he organizes a ride along to scare Ben away from wanting to be a cop, and wanting to be with his sister.  However, when things take a dangerous turn, maybe Ben will show he actually has what it takes to make the grade.

One of the first box office hits of 2014 is available to own on DVD, and it's a pretty good one.

Ice Cube does great, as usual, as a comedic action star.

Reunited with Tim Story (Barbershop), he's back at the top of his game as the tough straight man to Kevin Hart's antics.

Meanwhile, Kevin Hart continues to impress with this follow-up to Grudge Match, this time as a full-fledged co-star and not just the comic relief.

He pulls off the role really well, and keeps the character from being annoying, which is really important to making the film enjoyable.

If you don't like Ben, you won't root for him to succeed and win James' approval, and then the whole movie falls apart.

This film takes the perfect buddy cop, oil and water, formula and plays it to perfection.

You will probably see the twists and turns of the police investigation unfold, but that's okay.

At the end of the day, you'll be glad you came along for the ride.

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I would have no qualms about adding this one to the library, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble Down To The AARP... "Grudge Match"

Grudge Match (2013)

Rated PG-13 for language and violence

Starring Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger, Kevin Hart,

Directed by Peter Segal

The Story:

In the 1980s, there were two boxers from Pennsylvania who were rivals for the belt: Billy "The Kid" McDonnen (DeNiro) and Henry "Razor" Sharp (Stallone).  They had two epic encounters, splitting both, however before they could have the third, deciding match, Razor retired from the ring.  Now, 30 years later, promoter Dante Slate Jr. (Hart) is trying to put the two back in the ring to settle the score and enjoy a huge payday for everyone.  Will it happen, or will the old guys die trying?

I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this film.

I wasn't expecting too terribly much, but it was engaging and it seemed like Stallone and DeNiro were having a blast playing off their 80s successes as two stubborn mules who are on a collision course with one another.

I mean, how often do you get to see Rocky vs Raging Bull?

Naturally, part of the reason that Sharp retired was because of a lady (Basinger) who enjoys a complicated relationship between both of the boxers.

However there is more to the retirement than meets the eye...

Alas, I've already said too much!

Rounding out the cast is Kevin Hart as the intentional comic relief as the promoter who is trying to get paid, and to get this bout off the ground.

It's an uphill battle, but he's determined to make it work.

And make it rich!

Give it a shot, I think you'll enjoy it.

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: While this won't make the Top 10 list of the year, I would have no problem owning or watching it again in the future.