The Diva's review of "How High"

(click here to skip to this movie's rating) How High (2001) Viewed at: Lewis and Clark Genre: Comedy Rated R; running time of 89 minutes. Written by: Dustin Lee Abraham Directed by: Jesse Dylan Cast: Method Man, Redman, Obba Babatundé, Mike Epps, Anan Maria Horsford, Fred Willard, Lark Voorhies, Essence Atkins (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) The Digest Silas P. Silas Method Man) knows his plants. If you have a problem, he has some herb that will cure it. He is so good at fixing ailments that his best friend, Ivory (Chuck Davis) encourages him to become a doctor. He knows that Silas can succeed in college, he just has to find the will. Meanwhile in another part of town, Jamal King (Redman) has just been kicked out of Junior college. He has been there for 6 years and has nothing to show for it. His mother is through and berates him until he promises to take his T.H.C's (Testing for Higher Credentials). Back on the other side of town, Silas' best friend has tragically died. Silas takes his ashes and plants them with some marijuana seeds. He swears that he will go to college as encouraged by his best friend. Two months later he shows up to take his test and pull up next to Jamal. Both are trying to calm their nerves by getting high. One has the light and the other has the weed. A match made in heaven. They light up Silas' special best friend weed and start puffing. Miracles of all miracles... Silas' best friend shows up as a ghost and vows to help them past the test and succeed in school, by cheating for them. It works and they land at Harvard. Once in Harvard, they merely have to light up the special weed and Ivory appears and helps them. They are met with hostility by Dean Cain (Obba Babatundé) who sees them as bad examples of black people and wants them gone at all costs. The campus jock, Bart (Chris Elwood) - with his racist behind - has also decided to make their life horrible. They take it in stride because they have their secret weapon in Ivory and he is going to make sure that they pass. This works out perfectly until someone steals the precious plant. Can they succeed on their own? The Dish No they can't survive on their own and I think that was the most disappointing aspect of this movie for me. Yeah they spent the entire movie high and I'm very anti-drug, but this movie could have redeemed itself for me had they been able to buckle down, study and pass their classes on their own. It was just ridiculous. The portrayal of the women was horrendous. Jamal's girlfriend is the daughter of the Vice President of the United States and after finding out that he had never been arrested and respected his mother, she wanted nothing to do with him. She wanted a thug. Jamal’s mother talks to him like a dog; Lauren let’s herself be bullied by a jackass. What kinds of messages are these? This movie was laced with horrible stereotypes and pathetic characterizations of Blacks, Whites, and Asians. It was a mess. Before you think that I'm totally without a sense of humor, I did laugh at Mike Epps' character - the pimp called Baby Powder. He was stupid that I couldn't help but laugh. Beyond all that, this movie should have never made it to the screen. The Directive This movie reminded me of "The Disorderlies" in that I loved it when I was 12 and look back on it now and wonder if I was on crack, myself. Wait for it to come on cable. Can they go any lower? back to top Copyright Kamal "The Diva" Larsuel-Ulbricht, 2001 EMAIL: thediva@3blackchicks.com ICQ: 8690410 http://www.3blackchicks.com/ Use the feedback form below to send your comments to The Diva