Underclassman (2005)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Marcos Siega

Writers (WGA):

Brent Goldberg (story) &
David Wagner (story) ...

Release Date:

2 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A Comedy About Upholding The Law And Disturbing The Peace

Plot:

A young detective goes undercover at an elite private school to destroy an international stolen car ring. |

Plot Keywords:

Private School | Undercover | Car Chase | African American | Police

Cast

Nick Cannon	...	Tracy 'Tre' Stokes
Adrian Young	...	Jose
Art Bonilla	...	Cuervo
Bart McCarthy	...	Earl the Bum
Kelly Hu	...	Lisa Brooks
Ian Gomez	...	Detective Gallecki
Cheech Marin	...	Captain Victor Delgado
Ryan Beil	...	Warren Williams
Peter Bryant	...	Michael Barry
Angelo Spizzirri	...	David Boscoe
Sam Easton	...	Oliver Horn
Shawn Ashmore	...	Rob Donovan
Mary Pat Gleason	...	Ms. Hagerty
Kaylee DeFer	...	Des
MyCale Guyton	...	April (as MyCale)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual references, drug material and some teen drinking.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Camarillo, California, USA

Company:

Underclassman Films Ltd.

Trivia:

Originally set for a US theatrical release in 2004. Then two massive waves of layoffs were sustained at Miramax and Dimension, and the infamous Disney and Miramax split reached it's height. This film thus remained in the Miramax vaults unreleased during this time of uncertainty. When the Disney and Miramax divorce was finally completed, numerous films under the Miramax and Dimension label were finally released theatrically.

Quotes:

Tracy Stokes: I think I just swallowed Nemo.

Movie Connections:

References Point Break (1991)

Soundtrack:

Dancing on the Perimeter

Are Writers Too Lazy To Sue These Days, or What?

I see Nick Cannon shares a story credit on "Underclassman." I guess this means one day in his childhood he must have stayed home from kindergarten and caught "Plain Clothes" on cable. Has no one else noticed the premise (cop goes undercover in a high school to catch a killer) is lifted straight from that movie? At least that movie was fairly clever and got some comic mileage from Arliss Howard trying to pass as a teenager. I hear loose talk of plot points and dialogue lifted from "Point Break" as well.

Are writers and their lawyers too lazy to sue over flagrant plagiarism anymore? Why isn't Peter Benchley's estate trying to horn in on "Into the Blue"? Maybe the whole "Blue Lagoon" vs. "Paradise" outcome years ago was too discouraging, or Dick Lupoff's unfortunate experience of his story "12:01 P.M." being turned into an Oscar-nominated short film on Showtime and yet still apparently miraculously missing the notice of the writers of the curiously similar "Groundhog Day." There was a time you saw remakes acknowledge their sources. Ah, what innocent times those were. We were all so naive then.