1992's Class Act was hip hop duo Kid N' Play's first and only movie together that wasn't part of the House Party series. Duncan Pinderhughes (Kid) is a straight cut bookworm and Blade Brown (Play) is a troubled teen fresh out of jail. The two start high school under weird circumstances when they're school records are switched. Pinderhughes ended up being placed in a class of roughnecks while Brown went to the more established honor roll classes. When they learn of the mistake and confront each other, they try to use the mishap to their advantage to straighten out their problems. For example, Pinderhughes, because he was nonathletic, needed to pass gym and Brown just needed grades in general. From there on the film is one big laugh riot. The culture clash between the two plays off great on screen. Pinderhughes is used to finer things in life (classical music being one), he has great manners and is usually around kids of his own intellect. Meanwhile, Brown grew up in a rough environment and the streets definitely gave him the tough and mean persona we see. Usually films like this don't really do well with age and they're seen as "90s comedy". But 15 years later, scenes from Class Act are still being talked about and laughed at. It also helps that it is shown on HBO and BET a lot these days. Class Act is a refreshing comedy and has definitely stood the test of time.
Class Act - *** out of ****
Plot summary
Duncan is a genius straight A student, Blade is juvenile delinquent. But because of a mix up with their school records, everyone thinks each is the other one. Now, Duncan kind of likes the attention from being thought of as a real bad dude, if only the school bully would stop trying to rough him up. And Blade definitely likes being thought of as important instead of as trouble.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
February 04, 2019 at 12:26 PM
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Still a hip teen comedy after 15 years
Let the silliness commence
Kid n' Play's third movie together and their first break from the House Partys was a silly movie. Through some incredibly ridiculous mix up Duncan Pinderhughes (Play) was confused for Blade (Kid) and vice versa. The two couldn't have been more different. Duncan was an upstanding, genius kid on his way to the college of his choice whereas Blade was a tough guy repeat felon just trying to avoid a permanent stay in prison. Their mix-up in high school was mutually beneficial though it came with a lot of problems.
One good thing is that the movie didn't take itself too seriously. In Three Stooges type fashion they fell into one mishap after another. It was slapstick and physical comedy abound mostly by the nerdy and uncoordinated Duncan. Of course they were able to work a musical performance into the movie which didn't fit whatsoever. There wasn't much good or memorable about this movie except that a rap duo was in it.
Underrated cult flick from pop rap duo
"Class Act" is, as far as I can tell, the only movie pop-rap duo Kid 'n Play made that wasn't related to the House Party series. It's not quite as good as the classic first movie in that series, but it's still well worth watching.
In "Class Act", Kid is a nerdy student and Play is a thug. A mix up causes Kid to be placed in the remedial class with bullies and criminals, and Play gets put in the gifted class.
It's pretty funny at times, and entertaining, though I found my attention waned toward the end, which never really happened with "House Party".