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John Singleton’s Higher Learning deserves some respect for its exploration of a number of sensitive issues that many University students encounter at some point in their lifetime -- some of which include institutional racism, rape, and the individual desire to be accepted. While some of the characters lack emotional complexity and the story at times may feel a little "preachy", the film is still a pretty enjoyable and thought-provocative experience -- one that'll linger with you for quite some time afterwards.

Primarily, it's a film concerned with identity, with numerous individual struggles interlinked. Malik Williams (Omar Epps, In Too Deep) is the campus track star convinced that everyone is against him because of his skin colour ("It's no longer about what a person says but what they think," he says. "So in my mind, you've been walking around here calling me a nigger in you head.") His girlfriend, Deja (Tyra Banks), and Professor Phipps (Laurence Fishburne) attempt to persuade him otherwise, but Malik feels the need to stand up for his race with the help of long-term campus activist, Fudge (Ice Cube).

Malik and Fudge soon end up in a heated rivalry with a lonely, misguided student named Remy (Michael Rapaport) and a violent group of neo-Nazi skinheads that have since adopted him. Somewhere in the middle of all this there is another plot involving a student named Kristen Connor (Kristy Swanson), who is raped after a fresher's night out. Women's rights activist Taryn (Jennifer Connelly) comforts her -- this prompts a homosexual angle.

The latter issue is the least developed of them all. You can admire Singleton's ambitions for wanting to include lesbianism as one of the key social issues in his film, but, in truth, it really isn't needed here. There is more than enough food for thought without this topic, and the whole story feels uneven and a little overlong when we're subjected to this.

Higher Learning is at its most compelling when it explores racial tensions. Epps and Rapaport make lasting impressions as the frustrated and unfocused students looking to be accepted and make a difference. They feel like they have found a temporary solution when they engage in conflict with one another, but, as we all should know, violence is never the answer. The film makes the point that there are no easy answers to the various conflicts worldwide, but at least aims to teach the youth of America that peace and love can be best achieved by studying and attempting to understanding difference, rather than attempting to alienate it via a violent manner. The film is quite distressing to watch in places, but all-in-all the simple question that we are forced to ask ourselves in the end is "Why can't we all just get along?"

Higher Learning may be a flawed endeavour, but it is a still an enjoyable and thought-provocative one. A sense of belonging and purpose is something every human being deals with during their lifetime, and it is because of such that John Singleton's film should be credited as a successful, engaging drama that warrants everyone's attention.

(The soundtrack, containing Hip-Hop, Rock and Jazz music, is just as diverse and energetic as the film's storyline, with the standout tracks being 'Higher' by Ice Cube and 'Year of the Boomerang' by Rage Against The Machine.)

(C) Andy Carrington, 2010.