First Hit: A few funny moments in a supposed humorous feelgood film that also attempted to make a point.
Right from the beginning, the failures of this film are present. Kevin Hart playing Teddy Walker, is shown being in high school. To make Kevin look younger and in a different time, they gave him a cornrow hairstyle. It didn’t work, Kevin looked way too old to support the premise.
Although this error could have been alleviated by using another actor, they compounded this error a couple more times in the film. This filming and directional error stayed with me through out.
Present day, Teddy is a high-school dropout but a super salesman selling barbeques. He sells more than anyone else at the company where he works. He spends all the money he makes and his closest friend Marvin (Ben Schwartz), who is a runs a Wall Street company, keeps telling him to save and quit spending.
Teddy is dating and living with a very successful woman named Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who everyone says is out of his league. When Teddy proposes to Lisa he accidently blows up his place of work. Being a high-school dropout, with no prospects for work, he starts working at a fast food joint as a promotional chicken. When Marvin says he can work for him if he gets he GED, he tells Lisa he’s already working for Marvin.
Enrolling into a Night School class taught by Carrie (Tiffany Haddish) he’s now grouped with other people who are struggling to make their life better. The interaction with them is, at times, funny.
As the film dances between Teddy’s untruthful relationship with Lisa, his high-school days, and his GED classroom antics, the film came across as chopped up.
Hart was Hart. There really wasn’t a character named Teddy. It is Hart as a person named Teddy. Haddish as the night school teacher who cares, was very funny. Echikunowoke, in a limited role, was strong as Lisa. Schwartz was good as Teddy’s friend. Ron Riggle was funny as McKenzie, one of Teddy’s GED classmates. Taran Killam was OK as the school principal and former nerdy high-school classmate of Teddy’s. Romany Malco as Jaylen, one of Teddy’s GED classmates, was strong. Mary Lynn Rajsku, as Theresa, was hilarious as one of Teddy’s GED classmates. Anne Winters was good as Mila, one of the GED classmates. Al Madrigal, as Luis, was funny as one of Teddy’s GED classmates. Kevin Hart and Harry Ratchford wrote a sophomoric kind of script. Malcolm D. Lee did an OK job of directing this film.
Overall: I left the theater uninspired by this comedic attempt.