“Night School” (Comedy: 1 hour, 51 minutes)

Starring: Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Brooke Butler and Keith David

Director: Malcolm D. Lee

Rated: R (Profanity and violence)

Movie Review: Tiffany Haddish, who worked with director Malcolm Lee in “Girls Trip” (2017), and Kevin Hart are trying to get audiences to laugh. Their efforts are misplaced moments here. 

They both play their stereotypical roles, characters we have seen them play plenty of times before. They obtain some laughs, but the script is a hodgepodge of remedial material and repetitive characterizations who need detention instead. 

Teddy Walker (Hart) quit an Atlanta high school in 2001 and never returned. Seventeen years later, he reluctantly returns to the high school he left to get his GED. Unfortunately, night school is a significant change for Walker who has learning disabilities. Even more, his instructor, Carrie (Haddish), is hardcore about learning. 

“Night School” is a comedy that has some laughs. However, the comedy is childishly silly and that is what garners laughs. The characters’ actions do not fit in totality, and they are not convincing, even for a comedy. 

The movie’s one noteworthy is Keith David, who plays Hart’s father, Gerald. He pinpoints the silliness of Hart’s character with words and facial expressions. He is at least one character who has a grounded comical reality.

Grade: C (The producers of this comedy need detention.)

“Smallfoot” (Animation/Adventure/Comedy: 1 hour, 36 minutes)

Starring: Channing Tatum, Danny DeVito, James Corden, Zendaya and Common

Director: Karey Kirkpatrick

Rated: PG (Violence, rude humor and thematic elements)

Movie Review: “Smallfoot” turns the tale about Bigfoot around so that the bigfoots, who are yetis, think that the elusive humans are the mythical monsters. Because of this, the adventure is a fun, original screenplay. It should entertain small fries with comedy and nifty visuals while adults enjoy the interesting cultural dynamics among the Bigfoots.

Migo (Tatum) is a yeti who encounters a human. The Bigfoot creature believes the human is the mythical creature known as a smallfoot. The problem is no one in Migo’s village believes him, so he sets out to prove smallfoot exists. 

Enter wildlife documentary filmmaker and television personality Percy Patterson (Corden), who is looking to prove yetis exist. Migo and Percy’s encounters with each other change them for the good.

This tale is about the individual assertion versus societal norms. Migo is challenging the norms regarding smallfoot. When others challenge Migo’s individual beliefs, his goal becomes proving what he observed. A good message exists about self-determination. The movie has other lessons to learn.

The voices by the cast, especially Tatum, DeVito, Corden and Common, work to provide audiences with personable characters. Tatum fits the main character. His voice offering a certain novice and youthful appeal for his vocalizations of Migo.

Nifty visuals exist. The visuals should be enough to entertain children, especially if seen in a three-dimensional movie. 

While the movie has no catchy themes, music or grand memorable characters, it still has an energetic adventure that works. “Smallfoot” is about a character and his beliefs, so it has some dramatic moments. These moments in an animated movie may bore younger audiences but may resonate with older audiences.

Grade: B- (“Smallfoot” offers big enough entertainment to leave a footprint.)

“Little Women” (Drama/Family: 1 hour, 52 minutes)

Starring: Sarah Davenport, Lea Thompson, Ian Bohen and Lucas Grabeel

Director: Clare Niederpruem

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic elements and teen drinking)

Movie Review: Movie producers constantly retell Louisa May Alcott’s novel, “Little Women.” During the last 150 years, the book has staying power, but the movies come and go with varying results. 

This outing is a modern retelling of Alcott’s tale of four women coming of age. It has an attractive cast. The movie would be better if it were separate from Alcott’s novel and about a young woman writer finding her voice instead. 

The narrative chronicles the lives of four young New England women. The March sisters, Margaret “Meg” (Melanie), writer Josephine “Jo” March (Davenport), musician Elizabeth “Beth” (Allie Jennings) and artist Amy Curtis March (Elise Jones/Taylor Murphy), are all talented young women. They find their way as they age, following their passions and their love interests.

The movie should bear the name “Little Woman.” This I movie is really about Davenport’s Jo March. She has more screen time than the others that it appears the movie is about her. Producers should have just come up with an original script that centered on Jo March.

Sarah Davenport is not to blame. She is a talented, engaging, attractive actress. She carries the movie often, although her character is annoying occasionally. Jo March complains far too much but that is the character.

Decent diversion is what audiences obtain with this version of “Little Women.” It hits its highs and lows with stride with an enjoyable cast, but the movie appears a reason to showcase Davenport. 

“Little Women” is a series of flashbacks detailing Jo’s life and how the events inspire her to write a book about her and her sisters. Meanwhile, the scenes attempt to provide a movie about all the sisters when only one obtains star treatment.

Grade: C+ (One woman provides the most.)

“Hell Fest” (Horror: 1 hour, 29 minutes)

Starring: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus and Tony Todd

Director: Gregory Plotkin

Rated: R (Violence, profanity and sexual references)

Movie Review: “Hell Fest” is a true to form slasher movie. It is about the thrills of killings. Gregory Plotkin (“Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” 2015) also has the traditional redundancy of horror movies.

A masked murderer terrorizes a horror-themed amusement park known as Hell Fest. Patrons of the amusement park believe it is all part of the entertainment, so no notices some of the murders are real. 

For six college-aged friends, Natalie (Forsyth) Brooke (Edwards), Taylor (Taylor-Klaus) and their boyfriends, the terror is all too real as the killer appears to be targeting Natalie and by default her friends. 

The horror begins with some originality. A horror amusement park is a clever setting, but the screenplay quickly wanders into lame, passé themes. Characters commit typical asinine actions seen in other horror and thriller movies. The characters become irritable and their actions unconvincing.

Grade: C (Horrible Fest)