A high school’s music programme is on the budget chopping block, though not if crusading biology teacher Kevin James, stripped down to his trunks, can help it. Knuckleheaded though this faculty-member-turned-MMA-fighter comedy is, there’s no denying the plot’s lefty credentials, snuck in among the popcorn. Repeatedly, we’re told of the value of the arts by kind-hearted conductor Henry Winkler. The passion of heroic educators is a theme, with the American flag making multiple cameos. And even though James gets to do his vaguely unsettling dance moves (and fall down a lot), he’s surrounded by true believers, including a foreign-born ring trainer (giddy former UFC champ Rutten) who aspires to citizenship. The movie thrums with social responsibility in between the barefoot canvas smackdowns – how current is that?