How High

2001 "They've got their degrees all rolled up."
6.2| 1h33m| R| en
Details

Multi-platinum rap superstars Redman and Method Man star as Jamal and Silas, two regular guys who smoke something magical, ace their college entrance exams and wind up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.

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Reviews

TinsHeadline Touches You
ThiefHott Too much of everything
Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
FilmBuff1994 How High is an brutal movie with an extremely stupid storyline a lot of really bad jokes,there was no part in this stupid comedy that made me laugh.Going into this movie I didn't really think it was going to be good,but it was even worse than I thought.I only watched it because me and my friend both have Netflix and he said I should check this out,I really don't understand how he liked it.When I was looking at the opening credits,I knew none of the cast,apart from Fred Willard,but I don't like him,but then I saw that Danny DeVito was a producer,so then I thought it myth not be that bad,but it was terrible.I hope he got paid well for being part of this disaster.This movie is stupid,not funny,a big depressing,and at times very racist,I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.One of my least favourite movies ever.Two potheads trying to get into Harvard smoke the ashes of their dead friend which makes them very intelligent.
shootmenowplz1 Making a comedy based around pot-smoking, for an appropriate audience that certainly doesn't want to have to concentrate too much, should not usually pose much of a problem for film-makers. But for the producers of this movie they sure have proved that this was a challenge they were willing to not only take on and accept, but then monumentally lose at. Production-value wise it comes across as a quite polished and adequately accomplished piece, mostly on the whole. The only problem being, and it's a biggy.... is that the predicaments, scenes, and jokes just aren't all that funny. And that is even though they are unquestionably coming from the almost bottomless source-material pit known as "base-humour". Having seen the fantastic "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" and the absolutely superb and unmatched "Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" i know how good African-American base-humour comedies can be. In fact, Juice in the Hood is easily one of the best comedies i have ever seen. But this movie pales into absolute insignificance when compared to the non-stop bellylaugh quality humour of either of those. And therefore, with such high expectations, it only added to my eventual disappointment when i watched this film of mostly monotonous and largely childish fodder. Terrible!
view_and_review "How High" was one of those pointless, utterly asinine movies that has the ability to make you laugh in spite of how ridiculous the plot is. You can't get a more ridiculous plot than two stoners smoking their dead friend's ashes and then being able to see him.Even though Method Man and Redman aren't the best actors in the world, the movie fit their abilities. It was a silly movie that couldn't be taken slightly serious, so what's the big deal of having two rappers with mediocre acting abilities playing the lead roles? The movie was actually quite hilarious, and it got funnier the more times I saw it.
Andy (film-critic) 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 *****