Tagline: A comedy about upholding the law and disturbing the peace.
A baby-faced 24-year-old detective, who never gets the respect he deserves because of his boyish looks, goes undercover in an elite private school where he stumbles upon an international auto-theft ring.
Nick Cannon plays Tracy “Tre” Stokes, a streetwise LA cop in “Underclassman,” which combines frenetic action with sharp-eared comedy. When a student at an elite private school gets murdered, the rough-edged rookie Stokes gets assigned as the undercover detective to track down the killer. The resulting culture shock is only one of his difficulties.
The ever-resourceful Stokes resorts to using his unique blend of sharkish good cheer and rakish charm to woo his beautiful teacher Karen Lopez (Sanchez) to help him pass Spanish and his arrogant athletic prowess to make the school streetball team. Once Stokes gets “in” with the edgy team captain and lead suspect Rob Donovan (Ashmore), he discovers that Donovan is being coerced into participating in a student car theft operation.
Using his talent for hunches, Stokes wastes no time employing unorthodox methods of investigation. Although disapproving of Stokes behavior, Captain Victor Delgado (Marin) is worried for his safety and assigns two of his detectives as back up – Detective Lisa Brooks (Hu) and Richard Gallecki (Gomez) to keep an eye on him.
Maverick cop Tracy “Tre” Stokes (Nick Cannon of Drumline) is about to get schooled in a whole new way of solving crime as he goes undercover at an elite private high school in the action-packed comedy Underclassman. A fast-talking, street-smart but baby-faced detective who’s honed his renegade crime-fighting skills in urban L.A., Stokes has no clue what hes in for when he heads back to high school to infiltrate a group of ultra-rich, hyper-smart students under suspicion for murder.
Cultures clash as Stokes’ no-holds-barred style meets the ultimate in high school high-society. But soon Stokes finds himself getting closer to his killer… and to passing Spanish and making the basketball team… as he works his way with hilarious tenacity into the “in” crowd and uncovers a dangerous ring of criminals.
These production notes provided by Miramax Films.
Underclassman
Starring: Nick Cannon, Roselyn Sanchez, Shawn Ashmore, Cheech Marin, Kelly Hu
Directed by: Marcos Siega
Screenplay by: David T. Wagner, Brent Goldberg
Release Date: September 2, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexual references, drug material and teen drinking.
Studio: Miramax Films
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $5,655,459 (96.2%)
Foreign: $224,096 (3.8%)
Total: $5,879,555 (Worldwide)