''Class Act'' is a 1992 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Randall Miller Randall Miller (born July 24, 1962) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, and occasional actor. At the American Film Institute (AFI), Miller received acclaim for his 1990 short film ''Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & ...

and starring

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

duo

Kid 'n Play Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City who were most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eastmond. B ...

. An urban retelling of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

's ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot conce ...

'', the film was written by Cynthia Friedlob and

John Semper John Semper Jr. (born August 14) is an American screenwriter, producer and story editor with numerous credits in animation for television. He is best known for being both producer and head writer on the television series '' Spider-Man: The Animat ...

from a story by Michael Swerdlick, Richard Brenne and Wayne Allan Rice. Filmed at Van Nuys High School in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

section of Los Angeles, it is the third of five films starring Kid 'n Play, following ''

House Party A house party is a type of party held at the home of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, word of mouth, pos ...

'' (1990) and ''

House Party 2 ''House Party 2'' is a 1991 American comedy film and the second installment of the House_Party_(franchise)#Films, ''House Party'' film series. Kid 'n Play, Full Force, Tisha Campbell, and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles from the first film ...

'' (1991), and preceding ''

House Party 3 ''House Party 3'' is a 1994 American comedy film, directed by Eric Meza and written by Takashi Bufford. It stars Kid 'n Play, Bernie Mac, Gilbert Gottfried, TLC, Angela Means, Immature and Michael Colyar, with a special appearance by Tisha Ca ...

'' (1994) and '' House Party: Tonight's the Night'' (2013).

Plot

Genius high school student Duncan Pinderhughes is getting ready for graduation, but is somewhat disheartened to find out that, despite his perfect

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

score and 4.0 GPA, prestigious Hafford University (parody of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

) will not admit him unless he can pass phys. ed. Ex-convict Michael "Blade" Brown is released from jail, and told by his parole officer that the condition of his release is satisfactory graduation from high school. A mishap results in their pictures being swapped on their permanent school records. In effect, Blade is surprised to find out that he is being placed in gifted classes, while Duncan is shocked to be placed in minimal classes with substandard conditions and miscreants for classmates. Blade realizes this and sees Duncan as his ticket permanently out of jail, since Duncan could pass his classes with ease. He transforms Duncan into a version of himself with dreadlocks, and does his best to teach Duncan how to act and talk like himself. Having no grasp of

hip hop culture Hip-hop culture is an art movement that emerged in New York City, in the borough of The Bronx; Primarily within the black community. Hip Hop as an art form and culture has been heavily influenced by both male and female artists. It is charac ...

, Duncan's parents begin to worry about their son's new "friend"; his father especially, beginning to suspect Duncan is gay. Blade manages to smooth-talk his way through his advanced classes, even successfully executing a dissertation on sexual intercourse (one of his favorite subjects). Duncan ends up running into trouble with a high school thug named Wedge, but also discovers an uncanny ability to kick field goals, and joins the school's football team. Both Blade and Duncan end up with girlfriends that the other would have, with Blade smooth-talking the intelligent but excitement-seeking Ellen and Duncan being pursued by the wild Damita (Alysia Rogers). A drug dealer named Mink was told by his employee Wedge that Blade has been stepping into his territory and a chase involving the guys and their girlfriends and one of Duncan's new buddies ensues. The gang briefly lose Wedge and Mink and go to Damita's workplace (a wax museum), but are discovered by Mink and Wedge. Once there, the girlfriends realize that their men are swapped, and both guys eventually end up dumped. Still, Duncan manages to knock out Wedge in the museum, while Blade handles Mink, but they all end up in jail. After the mix-up is corrected, Blade, Duncan and company are all set free. In an anti-climax, Duncan and Blade both enter a Knowledge bowl in an effort to get Blade back with Ellen. They succeed when Blade answers a tiebreaker question to win the competition, recalling a choice tidbit Ellen once told him. Afterward, both couples end up together. In a final scene, Duncan's father walks in on him and Damita having sex, which relieves his initial worries about Duncan's sexuality. Walking in each other's shoes dramatically changed the lives of both Duncan and Blade. In the epilogue, the audience learns that Blade graduated from high school and attended Hafford (even wearing preppy attire), while Duncan attended Stanford on a football scholarship.

Cast

* Christopher "Kid" Reid – Duncan Pinderhughes * Christopher "Play" Martin – Michael Charles "Blade" Brown * Karyn Parsons – Ellen *

Thomas Mikal Ford Thomas Mikal Ford (September 5, 1964 – October 12, 2016) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as Thomas "Tommy" Strawn in the sitcom ''Martin (TV series), Martin'', which originally aired from 1992 until 1997. He a ...

– Mink * Rick Ducommun – Parole Officer Reichert * Alysia Rogers – Damita * Andre Rosey Brown – Jail Guard * David Basulto – Go-Go * Doug E. Doug – Popsicle * George Alvarez – Tommy * Lamont Johnson – Wedge *

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), Gloria Mat ...

– Ms. Brown * Mariann Aalda – Mrs. Pinderhughes *

Meshach Taylor Meshach Taylor (; April 11, 1947 – June 28, 2014) was an American actor, widely known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the CBS sitcom '' Designing Women'' (1986–93), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstandin ...

– Mr. Pinderhughes * Michael Whaley – Tyrone * Patricia Fraser – Mrs. Ipswitch *

Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring ...

– Julian Thomas (uncredited) * Raye Birk – Principal Kratz * Reginald Ballard – Fruity * Simply Marvalous – Ms. Jackson * John Hostetter – Football Coach Cameo appearances by: * Lance Crouther – Bad Dude #1 *

Rhea Perlman Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress and author. She is well-known for playing head waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of eleven seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awar ...

– Joanne Simpson *

Sam McMurray Samuel McMurray (born April 15, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Supervisor Patrick O'Boyle in the CBS sitcom series ''The King of Queens'', Glen in the Coen Brothers comedy film '' Raising Arizona'', Trent Culpepper in th ...

– Skip Wankman * Baldwin C. Sykes – Bad Dude #2

Reception

Box office

The film debuted at No.7 at the US box office. It went on to earn a total of $13,272,113.

Critical response

The film received negative reviews, but after release on VHS and DVD, it became a cult favorite.

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

both found it silly, but the former gave the film a "Thumbs Up" and the latter a "Thumbs Down" and thought little of the film's portrayal of women and class level.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said that "the movie doesn't aspire to much more than cartoonish verve, but Kid 'n' Play easily hold it together. Their comic timing is right, and their humor manages to be both traditional and current. (An argument about whether one of them is "deaf" or "def" unfolds in the best "Who's on first?" fashion.) The film easily incorporates a crowd-pleasing rap and dance episode featuring both of them, and it meanders only when taking on anything more complicated. A chase sequence through a wax museum only confuses matters by becoming too crowded, and temporarily losing track of the stars." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' critic

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...

said that "first-time director Randall Miller guides he actorsover every predictable comic misstep with a timeout for a hip-hop number. Kid'n Play have charm, but it's disturbing to see them settle for the slick. Their rap used to stand for something; now it's just easy listening."

Home media

The film was made available on DVD in May 2010.

Soundtrack

* 1. B Angie B – A Class Act I (5:42) * 2. Monie Love – Full Term Love (4:45) * 3.

Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

– I Wanna Love You (4:33) * 4. Tara Kemp – Anything You Ask (5:03) * 5. Vassal Benford – Blade's Theme (4:28) * 6. Penthouse Players – A Class Act II (Rap Version) (3:24) * 7.

Kid 'N Play Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City who were most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eastmond. B ...

– Get It Right (4:07) * 8. Lord Finesse – Set It Off Troop (4:16) * 9. Cold Premiere – That Body (4:50) * 10. Lisa Taylor – Better Late Than Never (4:01)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1990s teen comedy films 1992 films African-American comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films Hood comedy films American high school films American teen comedy films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Randall Miller 1990s hip-hop films Warner Bros. films De Passe Entertainment films 1992 directorial debut films 1992 comedy films 1990s American films English-language musical films 1992 musical films