Higher Learning

REVIEW
In Boyz n the Hood, director Singleton shaded his story with a subtlety which belied its incendiary theme. But in an effort to punctuate his thought-provoking Higher Learning, about campus strife in the '90s, he has given way to stereotypes and heavy-handedness. In remarkable detail, the story shows the fractious campus life awaiting a group of college freshman. As the students come to adhere to their own agendas -- racial, sexual, political -- the cookie-cutter story lays the way to a tragic but inevitable climax. Among a splendid cast are Epps, very good as a black athlete on scholarship; Rapaport, who makes the most of a one-dimensional fascist; and Swanson, who is sympathetic as a white bread "do-gooder" exploring her sexuality. Best of all, however, is Fishburne as a dedicated professor.