Movie Review: "High School"

If every stoner cliche were wrapped up into one film, “High School” would be the final product.

Directed by John Stalberg Jr., “High School” capitalizes on drug humor and tries a little too hard to wring laughs from the concept of people being high, which is not too laugh-out-loud funny for completely sober audience members.

The premise is simple ““ soon-to-be valedictorian Henry Burke (Matt Bush) is about to head off to MIT on a scholarship ““ until he takes a drag of ganja from childhood friend and resident stoner Travis Breaux (Sean Marquette). Henry’s academic hopes are put in jeopardy when the school has the entire student body go through mandatory drug tests the next day.

Breaux has a plan ““ sell pot brownies for the school bake sale so that everyone gets high on the day of the drug test. It becomes even more problematic when Breaux steals high-grade marijuana for the brownies from the local deranged drug dealer, Psycho Ed (Adrien Brody).

What ensues is a flurry of stoned out students and teachers, while a virtually unrecognizable Michael Chiklis, as the scheming, lecherous Principal Gordon, is intent on finding out why everyone is acting so slow all of a sudden.

From this point on, the stoner cliches become really prominent and drag on for quite a while, from the lethargy of the students to the sudden hunger pangs for Cheez-Its. Breaux sporadically puts on a Jamaican accent, because, no duh, he’s the pothead. The cliched humor is too stereotypical to be hilarious.

Bush and Marquette have an easy camaraderie, but it’s the supporting roles that really give the film some laughs. Chiklis sheds the tough guy manliness he portrayed as Vic Mackey of the FX cop drama “The Shield.” Instead, he plays a crotch-grabbing pervert disciplinarian, which may warrant a double take. It might be necessary to search IMDb to confirm that it is really Chiklis under that creepy wig and mustache.

Brody, on the other hand, growls his way through his role as a genius lawyer turned psychotic drug dealer in the form of “Psycho Ed.” From the cornrows to the superfluous number of body tattoos, it’s quite a shock to see his Oscar-winning acting skills relegated to playing a pseudo-hardcore dealer chasing after two kids who stole his stash.

Since the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010, the Myspace references and flip phone technology seem to be representations of a bygone era, especially in this Facebook and smartphone-saturated generation. It is as if the film transports the audience to a time when Myspace is still popular.

There’s a little bit of a “Hot Topic” style to the film that is a little vexatious to watch, but then again, it’s high school. While predictable and a little bit of a drag on the humor scale, “High School” is a lighthearted film for those who find the image of high people funny regardless of level of inebriation.

Email Jue at [email protected].