HIGH SCHOOL Red Band Trailer Released

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Weed movies to get another shot at redemption

Even as a fully bloodshot stoner of a teenager and young adult, I never was much for the pot movies.  The stuff that was out there when I was growing up, the comedies, were mostly of the old Cheech & Chong variety, which were a bit outside of my demographic wheelhouse.  I got to see a couple of them but they didn’t do a lot for me.  And it wasn’t because I wasn’t high enough, believe you me.

I think it had more to do with the portrayal of potheads as dummies, and that I felt laughing at that kind of thing would, by extension, mean that I was a dummy, which I totally was when I was high.  Dummies are afraid to go into grocery stores.  Dummies get confused at crosswalks.  In the early ’90s, dummies watched Liquid Television.

As I continue evolving into a self-aware, grouchy old fuck, I realize I was a much bigger fan of drug movies.  Particularly when the drugs intersected with the guns or when the film documented the long slide to the bottom.  Rush, I loved. The Wall, Trainspotting, the like.

The first genuine pot movie that I ever really rolled over laughing at was Pineapple Express.  Up until that point, I found movies that placed weed at the center of the plot to be, generally, pretty fucking stupid.   One of the prior high-water marks of the genre was Half Baked.  People still love Half Baked.  Stupid.  Barely funny in spite of the presence of David Chappelle in his comedic prime.

There have been some examples of good flicks in which the green played a prominent role.  I thought Friday was great, but in Friday, weed was central to the plot, rather than being the center of the plot.

Now, from the trailer, it looks like High School is a movie with pot at the center of the plot.  High School stars Adrien Brody as a maniac pot dealer who is recruited by a couple of panicky high school kids to help get all of their classmates to fail a mandatory drug test.  Check out the trailer below.

I’m thinking that this is one that I can get behind.  There’s something old school-goofy about the plot, but it still bears a unique enough twist to pique my interest. Brody looks spot on as the dealer, and I can barely stand fucking Adrien Brody.  It’s nothing that’ll probably change any of your perceptions, but it looks good for a night of uncontrollable giggles.

High School is currently slated for a June 1st release.