Underclassman

from Film Forum, 09/08/05

Nick Cannon (Drumline) stars in the action-comedy Underclassman, playing a detective who goes undercover to catch a stolen car ring at an elite private school. Let's leave it at that—the reviews make it clear that most people want this film to disappear as quickly as possible.

Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) says, "Thankfully, Underclassman avoids the R-rated raunchiness of those sophomoric flicks. But the trio responsible for it will probably never truly know the meaning of the words propriety and taste, and they seem quite happy to regurgitate every cop movie cliché and plot point they can think of. To their credit, they plug the importance of education and teamwork in PSA-like fashion. It's just too bad they couldn't do it with any kind of style or with any kind of true creativity."

Underclassman earns a failing grade from mainstream critics.

from Film Forum, 09/15/05

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says, "Underclassman flunks out as entertainment. … Clumsily directed by Marcos Siega, the formulaic fish-out-of-water film aspires to be a high-school version of Beverly Hills Cop, but Cannon lacks Eddie Murphy's comic charm and much of the flat script's humor relies on racial stereotyping."