Let's be clear here: the 2001 stoner comedy "How High," which marks the directorial debut of Jesse Dylan and pairs up hip-hop superstars Method Man (b. Clifford Smith) of rap super-group Wu-Tang Clan and Redman (b. Reggie Noble), is not for everyone. It caters to a very specific audience demographic, and that is the stoner crowd that enjoys some pretty low-brow humor and juvenile hi-jinks.
In the spirit of Cheech & Chong and the groundbreaking comedy "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978) and "Friday" (1995), "How High" brings an inspired hip-hop twist to a well-worn comic trope while also offering some very revealing observations about 21st-century college life. (This may make it seem like something more than it is but trust me, it isn't.) And in invoking Cheech & Chong previously, Method Man and Redman make for the most laugh-out-loud stoner duo since Cheech & Chong's heyday back in the '70s and '80s.
For hip-hop fans, seeing Method Man and Redman together on the big screen was a short time coming. The two had released their first collaboration "Blackout!" in 1999, and the previous year they had both guest-starred on each other's best-selling solo albums (Method Man's "Tical 2000: Judgment Day" and Redman's "Doc's Da Name 2000").
In "How High," Method Man is Silas P. Silas, an aspiring botanist and small-time pot dealer. Redman is Jamal King, a slacker who has wasted six years at a local two-year community college; he's also a stoner. When a mutual friend dies in a freak accident, the pair do what anybody in their situation would do: they decide to smoke his ashes. When smoking his ashes, they gain the unique ability to see his ghost, and this ghost decides to help them ace their college entrance exams and not surprisingly, they both manage to get accepted into the prestigious Harvard University.
Once there, they immediately run afoul of Dean Carl Cain (Obba Babatundé) and basically turn Harvard upside-down with their stoner antics, a la, "Animal House" by way of Cheech & Chong.
"How High" is high on laughs and the usual low-brow stoner humor. It also brings some brilliant hip-hop to the picture, too, with a guest appearance by fellow hip-hoppers (and weed aficionados) Cypress Hill at an impromptu Halloween party. But despite the stoner humor, "How High" does offer a sly critique of blacks in higher education, by juxtaposing the street-wise Silas and Jamal against the more "upper-crust" Dean Cain.
In spite of that last part, you still shouldn't read too deep into the proceedings here. "How High" is first and only concerned with providing stoned laughs and the teaming up of two legendary hip-hop stars. So like most stoner movies, "How High" is clearly not for everyone, but it provides everything it promises to its core audience.
In the spirit of Cheech & Chong and the groundbreaking comedy "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978) and "Friday" (1995), "How High" brings an inspired hip-hop twist to a well-worn comic trope while also offering some very revealing observations about 21st-century college life. (This may make it seem like something more than it is but trust me, it isn't.) And in invoking Cheech & Chong previously, Method Man and Redman make for the most laugh-out-loud stoner duo since Cheech & Chong's heyday back in the '70s and '80s.
For hip-hop fans, seeing Method Man and Redman together on the big screen was a short time coming. The two had released their first collaboration "Blackout!" in 1999, and the previous year they had both guest-starred on each other's best-selling solo albums (Method Man's "Tical 2000: Judgment Day" and Redman's "Doc's Da Name 2000").
In "How High," Method Man is Silas P. Silas, an aspiring botanist and small-time pot dealer. Redman is Jamal King, a slacker who has wasted six years at a local two-year community college; he's also a stoner. When a mutual friend dies in a freak accident, the pair do what anybody in their situation would do: they decide to smoke his ashes. When smoking his ashes, they gain the unique ability to see his ghost, and this ghost decides to help them ace their college entrance exams and not surprisingly, they both manage to get accepted into the prestigious Harvard University.
Once there, they immediately run afoul of Dean Carl Cain (Obba Babatundé) and basically turn Harvard upside-down with their stoner antics, a la, "Animal House" by way of Cheech & Chong.
"How High" is high on laughs and the usual low-brow stoner humor. It also brings some brilliant hip-hop to the picture, too, with a guest appearance by fellow hip-hoppers (and weed aficionados) Cypress Hill at an impromptu Halloween party. But despite the stoner humor, "How High" does offer a sly critique of blacks in higher education, by juxtaposing the street-wise Silas and Jamal against the more "upper-crust" Dean Cain.
In spite of that last part, you still shouldn't read too deep into the proceedings here. "How High" is first and only concerned with providing stoned laughs and the teaming up of two legendary hip-hop stars. So like most stoner movies, "How High" is clearly not for everyone, but it provides everything it promises to its core audience.