Super High Me

Doug Benson, a stand-up comic you may know from VH1, got the idea to make a documentary about himself smoking weed for 30 days. Ya know, just like Morgan Spurlock from Super-size Me where he ate McDonald's for 30 straight days. This has got to be one of the coolest ideas for a documentary in the history of documentaries. It was a pretty interesting flick, but unfortunately from a person who makes people laugh for a living, not very funny.

The flick starts off with Doug not smoking for 30 days and then once that 30 day sequence ends he begins to smoke constantly for the next 30 days. With each sequence he's subject to a bunch of tests, from taking the SATs to a psychic test. Also, he doesn't quit his day job while he's making the film. You get to see him perform his acts when he has them booked, high or not.

Doug Benson, is a pretty good comic. He has his own slightly flamboyant, immature style, that he's got down pretty well. He made me smile a few times and possibly giggle once or twice, but none of it was really that funny. He talks about pot, about how it's cool and he misses it, and that's about it. But if you're a fan of Doug's or stand up comedy, you should definitely find this flick funny. The two funniest scenes for me was when he wasn't on stage telling jokes, but when one of the producers was making a mess of Doug's apartment because of his butter fingers. And a fart gag with some tuba's was nice.

Doug, even before he began this little experiment, was a pot-head. There's no doubt about it. And this is what makes the whole process not so intriguing. If you know a seasoned burn-out, you know they tend to just get stoned. They can easily be high in almost any situation. If Doug wasn't such a pot-head, it would have been much more entertaining. Morgan Spurlock was a very healthy person, so eating McDonald's nonstop would have drastic affects. But since Doug is a pot-head in real-life this little 30 day bender isn't really anything too amazing to watch. He's such a veteran smoker that he doesn't exhibit any humorous side-effects. You don't see him paranoid, see him geek-out in a laughing fit, seeing him cough his brains out etc. etc. Pretty much all the things that's made any Cheech and Chong flick incredibly funny. But I do thank him for being a pot-head, if he wasn't this movie probably would never have been made.

Super High Me, was a cool documentary that gave some neat information concerning California laws, the history on Marijuana Dispensaries in California, and how many types of ways you can actually get high by THC. Lip balm. Believe it.

I firmly believe that if Doug wasn't a seasoned smoker this film would have been much more funny. If you've seen one glassy-eyed pot-head you've seen them all, and unfortunately his smoking didn't help make his stand-up act any funnier either. Then again, maybe I'm to blame. Maybe I need to lighten up and just light one up.

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.

While I agree that this is not the most political nor the most medically conclusive of documentaries, it seems to me that this misses the whole point of what the filmmakers were trying to do. There is no need for another "Grass" type documentary -- as that one already exists. Super High Me is a comedy first and a documentary second. And that's OK. More than OK, it might even be better, because it has the potential (since it is funny and entertaining as well as informative) to reach a wider audience and make more people aware of the entire medical marijuana issue, the existence of 'dispensaries' in California and the conflict between state and federal laws.

So is there another more activist documentary to be made about medical marijuana? Sure. But it would probably be boring and no one would really go see it. (Kinda like the fate of "Grass" for example.) This one is fun AND informative. And it will probably do very well and get more people talking about the issues, even more than if it were a "real" documentary.

the main character seems to have some kind of depression problem. he is not motivated, has hardly an intellect, and half-asses his efforts the entire time throughout the movie. okay, i like to smok, a lot, but this movie was really a waste of time. the main character is such a slob lookin kind of guy, and he acts like a slob too. i am upset to see this man representing how good weed can be, or how it doesn't screw you up when you smoke, cause he looks blazed a lot. also, he is so damn boring, i can't remember his name, the is NO co-star or anything like that, and the movie has no direction. you would think if someone was serious about making a movie to sway public opinion, this would be kept off the shelves. on the plus side, you might get a few laughs in, as i did, but overall, wow. pretty much a waste of time.

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!