Super High Me

I saw this film in its Regional Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The point of the film seems to be to openly steal Morgan Spurlock's 30-Day premise from Super Size Me and apply to stoner comedian Doug Benson being stoned for 30 days. It lacks the originality of Spurlock's premise. For one, many people spend every day stoned and the affects are well-known. I agree with their premise that that they want to show that marijuana doesn't do much harm to human health and therefore should be legalized. But if this is the best they can do, it should perhaps offer some caution about the degree to which marijuana effects cognitive thinking skills and behavior. While it is a funny film at times, it adds little to the political debate - unlike the Spurlock film - and doesn't really offer anything new or interesting.

As the filmmakers (including Benson and director Blieden) volunteered during their Q & A after the film, they really didn't know what sort of film they wanted to make. Did they want to tell of Benson's humorous 30-day stoned journey? Did they want to make a political film about the dispute between state and federal authorities on Marijuana legalization in California? Or did they want to make a club film about Benson's comedy act during the period of his 30-day experiment? They couldn't really decide, so they combined all three efforts and the film shows that lack of a clear direction.

Also, they throw in all of these cameos with Benson's comedian buddies that add almost nothing to the film. Incidentally, their 10th amendment Constitutional arguments are poorly presented since there is a long tradition of Federal legal supremacy based on Article 4, section 2 of the Constitution which has been the basis of America's Federal system of government for centuries.

So it is good for a few laughs and its own political diatribe, but it could have been much better. One of the best points that they make is that medical marijuana is, in many cases, an excuse for recreational drug usage. They imply that it is sort of farce and real debate should be over the legalization of recreational use. If we want to have that debate, let's find better film makers and other advocates to make that argument, because this barely qualifies as a political documentary. I recommend the film "Grass" which is a much better film and presents a fascinating history of the prohibition of marijuana in the U.S.

This film is a lighthearted, funny, and wholesome presentation of (1) the conflict between state medical marijuana laws and federal anti-drug laws, and (2) the evidence that marijuana can't do you much harm. If you are steeped in cannabis culture or follow legal developments concerning medical marijuana, none of the information will be new to you. You already know that the war on drugs is out of step with the science about cannabis use, and you know the current state of the law affecting medical dispensaries. Benson is likable and wholesome, and the movie is pleasant and funny. Because the movie is not dense or righteous, it has the capacity to reach interested folks who aren't already in the know and don't want to hear a rant about legalization.

Before saying anything about this movie let me say this. I do not smoke pot.

I rented this movie thinking oh great, a funny stand-up doing material and thats what it was. A stand-up, who got all his stand-up friends to do little interviews about smoking pot. I gotta say, was laughing like crazy through most of it. But mixed in, was a lot of serious opinion and anger about government control of pot and clashes between state and federal laws.

If you are looking for something truly scientific and credible, this isn't it. If you are looking for a good time and don't mind some opinions, I highly highly recommend this movie. Doug Benson is funny as are his friends who appear and even the studies are funny.

Watch it, enjoy it, don't take it seriously!

For fans of Doug Benson's comedy, be it stand-up or "Best Week Ever", you'll get more out of this documentary on him as he goes 30 days with weed and 30 days without then other viewers. If one goes into the film expecting an intelligent documentary on the pros Vs. cons of weed you'll be vastly disappointed. One only needs to know that this was made 'in cahoots' (the film's words not mine) with 420 Partners Llc to know which side of the fence this film firmly sits on and thus skews the 'infomation' in that direction and to suit it's need. Propaganda in a way, not to say it's not (vaquely) entertaining in bits and pieces, it is. Just go into the film knowing that it's slanted and you'll be fine.

My Grade: C-

After being told to watch this by various of my stoner friends, i decided to watch it on youtube. This film is a joke turned documentary, a parody of Super Size Me but with cannabis instead of MC Donald's. What i expected was to watch this guy smoke tons of weed and cover subjects related to it, both of which are seldomely met. The truth is, Super High Me consists mostly of Doug Benson stand up act. So for the majority, we just get jokes about being high with a pointless celebrity appearance here and there, with very little concerning the legislation of cannabis. The main point is this, watching someone be sober for 30 days, then be stoned for 30 days, isn't exactly what i'd call entertainment or quality film-making.

There's only about 3/4 tests. One for psychic ability (is there a point?), One for SAT scores, One for Sperm Count, and one for basic intelligence i guess you'd say. Each of these are covered with about 30-40 seconds of screen time, twice in the movie, so your obviously not getting a lot of information for the majority. This movie pretty much just glamorizes California throughout, cause thats the subject most covered. Yes they have dispendencys with different types of pot, yes they have DEA take downs, and yes they have medical mary jane. I covered that in a, probably grammar incorrect, sentence. Here, its covered for about 12-18 minutes, very boring. And for a movie called Super High Me, i expected to see way more usage. There's a surprising lack of content, and as i said before, the majority of the movie is his stand up act.

The actual production is pretty limited. Basically a guy follows Doug around with a camera, not much else, no interview shots are planned or anything like a normal documentary, the only shot setups i really noticed are those of his stand up act, so pretty much its just a guy with a camera filming people talking. No questions are really asked, instead we just have stoners talking about gibberish regarding pot (Although that pot prince guy was pretty hilarious). The sound balance is uneven, at times music will play and render a speaker inaudible. The interviewees don't exactly have any significance, at one point one there is Brian Posehn, who just eats his burger, doesn't say crap, and the scene ends, and also one with his co-star Sarah Silverman, just taking some type of rip from some type of vaporizer, the guitarists of janes addiction is there playing some chords not saying a thing, the scene ends. This is pretty much proof that someone in the crew has to be sober for a movie to be good.

So pretty much all you have here is stand up, which at times, is actually pretty funny. The actual focus of the documentary, isn't exactly 'focused'. Stoners just aren't that interesting, they smoke pot, and sit back and be lazy, thats about it. I'm a pothead who smokes pretty damn often, and i wasn't exactly impressed. Smoke a blunt and watch something a little bit more worthwhile like half baked or harold and kumar, this isn't really a entertaining or groundbreaking documentary. If your really interested in the effects and culture of cannabis, check out bbc's show Should I Smoke Dope, its pretty much what this should have been.