How High (2001)

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

Fmovies: It's pathetic when a stoner movie sucks even when you've been partying. The biggest problem I had with this was the rampant racism. If this movie was made by two whites and showed such awful stereotypes of blacks the cries of racism would be heard all over. Except for some reason blacks are allowed to do this? The white people in this movie are all portrayed as dumb, stuck-up, prudish, etc. Of course our brothers are the cool ones who turn everyone around, right? The problem with this movie compared to say Animal House, is that they aren't the innocent party being picked on by the system. Instead, they are a couple of complete @$$#0!3s who are the antagonists and start their own battles. They instigate the animosity by being a bunch of loud-mouth, ignorant, aggressive jerks. However I guess for the viewer we're suppose to think it's funny, otherwise we're racists ourselves cuz that's 'their way'. The part with digging up the corpse while dragging their whining fat white roommate along just revolted me. In the real world their fat white roommate would have turned them in and the two would have been arrested - but then that would have been racism, right?

Aside from that the jokes are stupid and there's a lot of inaccuracies (maybe the film makers could use a semester at a college themselves). For instance, the Chinese kid whose the "youngest Harvard freshman ever" looks like he's 22. Also when Silo or whatever his name is picks a bud off his pot plant & smokes it, the bud is hanging whereas buds grow upright. Nor does he dry and cure it first. Not very smart for the smart grower he's suppose to be.

I wish Hollywood would produce an intelligent stoner movie for once that caters to people with an IQ over 85.

I have to be biased here: I love Meth and Redman's music. Whether it's solo, in collaborations with others, or when they do an album together. these two are among the premier rappers in the industry. So despite the films heavy emphasis of promoting marijuana use, which I'm not sold on, I had to see this movie, because I'm a big fan of rap music and would rather see these guys in films over the likes of Britney and Mariah any day.

How High is hilariously funny, but it's not for everybody. You have to be fans of these fine gentlemen or have a crazy sense of humour. The rappers play Silas and Jamal, two young men who live for their pot and sexing. One day, after a friend of Silas was killed in a hilarious accident, Silas and Jamal are smoking a potent type of pot that gives them a high that allows them to "see dead people", namely Ivory, the man who was killed in the accident. He is able to give them the answers to all the questions on their SATs and that allows them to go to any college they want, and so they pick Harvard.

The film has them doing their thing, turning Harvard upside down with their decidedly different attitude and angering the dean (Obba Babatunde, with his name as Dean Cain, after the actor from Superman:The Series).

There are some crazy scenes in this film, such as when they run out of the special pot and they go to a graveyard to dig up the body of President John Quincy Adams, hoping that his brain could help them pass the courses or that weirdo who passes out tickets reacts to seeing his bicycle being destroyed. This film is so out there!

The acting is actually good and the characters have vibrancy. Also in the film are another great rap group, Cypress Hill, and former NBC alums Anna-Marie Horsford (Amen), Fred Willard (DC Follies), and yes, Lisa from Saved By The Bell (Lark Voorhies).

The DVD contains a lot of stuff, from the usual documentaries, music videos, commentary, etc to neat things like the "Hide The Stash" game where you have to find Meth and Red's pot by clicking on the correct 420 and there's even a preview of Eminem's "8 Mile" film. All in all, a lot of fun; if you're like me in my mind frame, see it. This film might be a cult rental like Showgirls and The Doors are for me.

How High fmovies. How High is just what Amercia needed in this year, a funny flick that doesn't take itself seriously. The plot is good and the acting by Method Man whose always good is great. Redman and Mike Epps both steal every scene their in as does I Need Money. My only problem with the film was the lack of nudity. But I still give it a 5/5.

I seen this movie this weekend and I about died laughing! Method Man and Redman are histarical together. Half-Baked doesn't even compare to this movie...Actually I can't think of any movie that can! I suggest this movie to anyone looking for a good laugh!

Jesse Dylan's (yes son of Bob Dylan if that's and indication) How High is a concoction of weed, more weed, college and sheer belly laughs. There is something about marijuana used in comedies that makes the comedy better, though it depends on if the jokes are delivered right and with the right zing. Cheech and Chong had that to a T and comedies like Half Baked and Friday got pretty close to that tradition, as does this movie which is surprising since this is Method Man and Redman's first comedy together and is co-produced by Danny DeVito.

Method Man here is a mass weed grower who grinds the ashes of his departed friend into his plant which helps him and his new friend played by Redman, score high on exams that get them excepted into Harvard university. This kicks off the usual lot of characters you would expect in a college comedy- the losers, the jock, the overly harsh teachers and dean, the nice girl the lead gets and other girls.

From the looks of that plotline it looks pretty standard and it is if you take the film as seriously as you would Up In Smoke and Animal House, but the film's big kick comes from the charm (did I just say that?) and humor from the two stars, the gags they encounter and the supporting characters input as well. In other words, if you mind the grass, this isn't for you, but for people who are fans of the stars or just want a high comedy time, this is for you. Hector Elizondo, Jeffrey Jones have small parts; Cypress Hill appears unbilled. A-