"Underclassman" is not a particularly memorable or impressive movie. It is sort of a clone version of "Beverly Hills Cop" mixed with "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". Now, you might think that it would make for a good combination, so did I. But the movie doesn't offer anything new or innovative that hasn't already been done or shown in the aforementioned titles.

The story is about a reckless undercover police man named Tracey who is sent into a private school to unravel a stolen car ring.

Story-wise, then "Underclassman" is adequate, just don't expect to be blown away by anything overly impressive. If you enjoyed the aforementioned titles then you will enjoy this movie to some extend. I just thought that this movie was a bit weak.

The acting in the movie was good, though. And it was nice to see Cheech Marin in the movie. Just a shame he didn't have more time on the screen. I bought this movie because of Kelly Hu, and was disappointed with the short amount of screen time she was given, especially when she was on the front cover of the DVD movie.

This is the type of movie that you will watch once, bag and tag it, and only to forget about it as it collects dust on the shelf.

From Miramax, the company that brought you Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and Good Will Hunting, comes Underclassman. To quote a classic Sesame Street song, "Which of these things is not like the other, which of these things does not belong?" The answer is – Underclassman. Why did they make this movie? I don't know who Nick Cannon is, I don't know what he does, but he must have some powerful connections (or be a Freemason) for Miramax to allow him to write, star, and executive produce this hackneyed piece of over-used Hollywood clichés. Cannon plays a young and reckless rookie cop who goes undercover as a high school senior to catch a murderer in an affluent (think Westlake High) white high school. Prepare yourself for a deep sociological study of the differences between black and white people…not really.

Instead, prepare for the inevitable warehouse bust, car chase down busy highway, boat chase, and hostage situation with the woman he loves. The only funny line in the film is when the dorky white guy gets rejected by two hot chicks and says, "They probably had herpes anyways." That was funny. Nothing else was.

Nick Cannon is not exactly the kind of person I'd send undercover to an exclusive prep school if I wanted to solve a murder and bust up some illegal activities going on there, still he does get the job done in Underclassman.

Sad to say that this film could not make up its mind whether it was a serious drama or a satire of such things as Mod Squad and 21 Jump Street. There was potential here for this to be a really funny comedy, but it just isn't realized.

Nick Cannon, Cheech Marin who plays his captain and the rest of the cast really give this one a try, but the aimless script and direction defeats them. When we find the identity of the perpetrator behind all the bad stuff it should have been a lot funnier than it was.

For fans of Nick Cannon only.