Night School

Andrew Cohn's sometimes heartbreaking documentary tracks the struggles and progress of three adults upending their daily lives in order to attend night school in Indianapolis to earn a high school diploma. All are dropouts who hope to complete a milestone they missed long ago, believing that this victory will help them on their difficult paths. Greg, 30, is a single father with a criminal record that he is trying to get expunged (which a diploma will help). Melissa, 53, is a single woman who thinks the program will help boost her self-respect. And Shynika, 26, makes $7.25 an hour at Arbys, and is sure that her manager is trying to sabotage her night school education, which she hopes will be a springboard to move on to nursing school. Cohn employs a fly-on-the-wall approach to shooting scenes of alternating determination and despair, but also captures stirrings of genuine personal reinvention at work in these hardy souls as they come closer to achieving their dreams. Extras include audio commentary by Cohn and cinematographer Zachary Shields. Recommended. [Note: this is also available with public performance rights for $375 from Grasshopper Film at www.grasshopperfilm.com.] Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)