How High (2001)

I've never indulged in any kind of illegal substance in my life, so this may explain why for the most part I didn't find "How High" to be terribly funny. Maybe those who are into weed (and who smoke weed while watching the movie) may be able to relate to it on some level and find it more amusing than I did. Anyway, I didn't care for the lead characters, not only because of their obsession for weed, but that they were exceedingly foul-mouthed and mocking of others. Indeed, the message seemed to be that those who work hard for success at studies or in other ventures are somehow inferior. However, I will admit that the movie wasn't completely terrible. There are a number of bizarre touches that took me off guard, moments that were so strange that they kept me watching. Some of these moments I admit I did find lightly amusing. Had the movie had gone more for the bizarre, there's a chance that I might had found the enterprise offbeat enough to recommend. But as it is, I would only recommend it to its target audience. You know who you are.

„What is that stench?" „Oh, that's my cologne, cannabis for men." How High is a must see for all people all over the world who like movies about weed. The movie is very innovative and funny and you won't be bored one minute while watching it. It's about two young, black men, called Silas and Jamal, who don't have any prospects in their lives until Silas' best friend Ivory dies. Silas uses his ashes as a fertilizer for some of his new cannabis plants. Smoking Silas' marijuana called "Ivory", Silas and Jamal get to know each other in front of the building they are going to do the entrance exam for college. They soon realize that Ivory appears as a ghost as soon as they start smoking "Ivory". Both of them pass the exam with perfect scores and they decide to go to college...The main roles of Silas and Jamal are played by two famous rappers called Method Man and Redman, who have got lots of good feedbacks for their excellent acting. Soundtracks were taken from their current album, which has the same name as the movie. Camera doesn't switch a lot what makes the movie very slow.To sum up, there has never been a movie like "How High" before what makes it very revolutionary. It gives you another, humorous view of how life on campus could be.

I went into this with low expectations. The 5.3 rating (seems low in retrospect) made me think that this would be a tough-to-watch buddy comedy misfire in the vein of White Chicks or any of the American Pie sequels (movies which I despised.) Instead, what I got was consistently funny and oddly poignant comedy on the level of Half Baked and the first Harold and Kumar movie (which I thought were quite funny.) It's definitely formulaic, but I think it does well within these constraints. The leads are amusing as are their foils. Overall, it was excellent. I find it interesting the number of reviews that reference the unlikeliness of weed enthusiasts at Harvard. Ha, you'd be surprised. Also references to people who smoke weed being stupid carry little weight when one considers that world-beaters like Carl Sagan and Robert Altman spent quite a bit of time ... on weed.

How High is a film that lends nothing, I repeat, nothing to the film community at large. I have read some critics that say that this film introduced a whole new generation to the Cheech & Chong of the new millennium with the Redman/Method Man pairing. While most seem to agree that this is a horrible film, very few of them mention how utterly racist the overall experience happens to be. When I use the word racist, I mean that it builds upon the degenerate clichés that African Americans struggle with on a daily basis with our society. While there were elements in this film that seemed like there was some reverse racism occurring, what struck me hardest in the face was how embarrassing Method Man and Redman must be to both the film community, but also to their own culture. I have a very open mind when it comes to social issues as well as films, but this one left my jaw on the floor several times. The blatant swings at African American stereotypes were meant to be a source of humor for director Jesse Dylan, but instead fell flat on their embarrassed face. Humor was in very short supply in this film due to the ethnic stereotype clichés that seemed to be used nearly every second of this film. Nothing was original. Nothing was exciting.Was the pairing of Redman and Method Man an idea of comedic proportions? I think not. As you can tell from their short lived series after the release of this film, the corporate world wanted to cash in on these two rappers, but soon realized that they were not as bankable as they thought. Why? Method Man and Redman, who completely different people, were nothing more than the same character in this film. With the very subtle hints of Method Man being smarter, nothing could separate the equality of these two characters. That is why they failed as a comic team. Think of Matthau and Lemmon or the above example of Cheech & Chong, what made these teams work while the How High team crashed and burned? What worked the best were the differences that uniquely drew the pair together. Their differences made us laugh and sympathetically brought them together, but with Method Man and Redman, they were the same. I was watching the same two characters fight through the same two challenges in this film. What tried to be funny instead transformed into repetitive. What Dylan did to counter the similarity between Redman/Method Man was bring in obscure secondary characters that added nothing to the flimsy plot or helped us feel emotion for our two main characters. The cliché jock, the cliché frat boy, the cliché Asian (which was again another racist moment), and the cliché rich white boy, just felt and were old. Watch college films from the 70s and you will see these same combinations, but what makes the films from the 70s different is that they used them with originality. How High, from beginning to end, was anything but original.I must admit, after watching this film of which Harvard was willing to loan their name to, I don't want to go to Harvard. They should have pondered the effects this film would have upon their prestige heritage. How High is a dark spot in Harvard's history. Do you know what makes it even worse? This film wasn't even created at or anywhere near Harvard. Again, Dylan was cutting corners to create a false sense of realism that continued to hurt this film. How High has no redeeming qualities. Ooops, I stand corrected. The only smile that was ever created on my face during this film was when Spalding Gray spoke. How did they get him and Fred Willard to do this film? I have said it once, I will say it again, some actors just need their bills paid. Inconsistency, incompetence, and aggravation seemed to be the hidden themes of this dud. What destroyed this film further is that if you take the actors away and look at the story in general, it is nothing. There is no original story at all with How High. Going to college, working for your grades, winning over the heart of the President right at the last minute – this was nothing short of a "cut and paste" film that had no backbone and horrid acting! I do not like Jesse Dylan's style of directing. While I think Kicking and Screaming is his prized film (due greatly to Will Ferrell), all of his films seem to be extremely choppy with the editing and are randomly interjected with an overdose of unnecessary scenes. The John Adams scene in How High is a prime example. The Benjamin Franklin moments is another. The unconcluded "Truth Serum" can be considered another. How High was just scene after scene of inconsistency. Lumpy oatmeal would win first place before this film would ever be congratulated! I blame a majority of the issues with this film on Jesse Dylan. If he would have tightened the script, created unique and "cult-like" characters, and eliminated the racism, he may have had the quintessential "weed" film in Hollywood.Overall, this was one of the worst films that I have witnessed. Never have I been so emotionally charged about the racist moments in this film as I have with How High. The actors, all around, were horrible. The story had no legs to stand on and it became very obvious after the opening credits that unless you were either 10 to 15 years of age, this film would never be considered a comedy. Nothing was funny. Nothing will make you laugh. The only part worth enjoying in this film is the ending credits. The ending credits give you a chance to walk away and forget this part of your cinematic life.Grade: * out of *****