HIGHER LEARNING
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.1
Date Released: 1/11/95 Running Length: 2:07 Rated: R (Mature themes, violence, language, sex)
Starring: Omar Epps, Kristy Swanson, Michael Rapaport, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Connelly, Tyra Banks, Regina King, Jason Wiles Director: John Singleton Producers: John Singleton and Paul Hall Screenplay: John Singleton Cinematography: Peter Lyons Collister Music: Stanley Clarke Released by Columbia Pictures
With his third feature, writer/director John Singleton (BOYZ 'N THE HOOD, POETIC JUSTICE) has turned his focus from the inner city to the college campus. Set on the grounds of a fictional California school, Columbus University, HIGHER LEARNING strives to examine the political, sexual, and racial undercurrents that coalesce in such a volatile atmosphere.
For most people, the years spent at college are those of exploration and discovery. Confusion and heartbreak are as vital to the maturation process as understanding and joy. Universities across the world represent buffers between life at home and "the real world"; places where boys and girls become men and women.
In this film, John Singleton has chosen to look beneath the peaceful veneer of college life, but the narrative that emerges is decidedly unbalanced. Focusing almost exclusively on the violent, negative aspects, it ignores many of the positives. Viewing HIGHER LEARNING, we get little sense of community. Columbus seems to be a place where people go to have bad things happen to them.
Three freshmen guide our steps through HIGHER LEARNING. True, they are stereotypes, but Singleton, as an accomplished filmmaker, is able to imbue his characters with a vitality that allows them to escape the boundaries which might normally constrain them. Each grows and evolves, albeit predictably.
Malik Williams (Omar Epps) fits the traditional athlete type: cocky and arrogant. An urban black male on a partial track scholarship, Malik is at school to run, not learn. His attitude is that the world owes him, not the other way around. The reality that he can lose comes as an ego- bruising lesson.
Kristen Connor (Kristy Swanson) is a typical California girl. Blond and carefree, she's at college for the whole experience--until that experience includes going home with a guy who won't take "no" for an answer. She doesn't report the rape, but it affects every aspect of her life thereafter and leads, in part, to her questioning her own sexuality.
Remy (Michael Rapaport) is a quiet, geeky engineer who enrolled at Columbus to take courses and learn a profession. But his social life is barren and no one seems to understand him, except a group of shaven- headed young men who claim he's one of them. It doesn't take much convincing before the lonely Remy joins the skinheads and embraces their racist creed.
Perhaps HIGHER LEARNING tries to cram too much into two hours. On top of that, in striving for a gut-wrenching finale, Singleton pushes the issue of racial tension to a violent climax. On most college campuses today, there is racism, but it smolders and simmers, rarely reaching this sort of explosive level. This ending feels forced and overplotted. The tragic, ironic twist that punctuates the film is anything but surprising. In fact, most of what happens in the final fifteen minutes is easily predicted.
The film also loses an element of potency in its depiction of the main antagonists. The skinheads are presented as one-dimensional caricatures. As a result, the audience's enmity is equally as shallow. In SCHINDLER'S LIST, Steven Spielberg recognized that one key to a powerful drama is a fleshed-out villain. Thus, Amon Goeth was intelligent, charismatic, and monstrously evil. Similarly, the skinheads of ROMPER STOMPER were frightening because of their realism. In HIGHER LEARNING, however, there is little more dimension to these neo-Nazis than there was to Michael Douglas' victim in FALLING DOWN. They serve a function in the plot, but little more.
Solid acting abounds, and helps immeasurably when the script weakens. None of the three main performers displays an overabundance of talent, but all are more than equal to their roles. Supporting players the likes of Laurence Fishburne (as a professor with a lot to say but very little to do) and Jennifer Connelly (as a lesbian who befriends Kristen) round out a fine, if somewhat unorthodox, cast.
Singleton's views of modern college life are considerably better- rounded than those presented by many recent pictures (PCU and THREESOME leap to mind). Despite excesses and missteps, there is still a wealth of digestible, thought-provoking material in HIGHER LEARNING. The best parts tend to be the most subtle ones--racism shown by a glance or friendship by a kind word. When this movie is quiet and introspective, it speaks with a clear voice. That insight gets muddled, however, the more forceful Singleton becomes.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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