Bongwater

Unlike many of the people here, I did enjoy this movie. It's not going to appeal to someone looking for Half Baked or any other stoner comedy, because it's really a romance. It has comedy elements tied in throughout the film and it does have its moments although nothing is totally laugh out loud funny. The characters are not nearly as ludicrous as half baked (people don't literally go flying out their windows when there stoned), but I felt they were more true to life. It is very much your typical love story backbone. The bottom line is if you hate love stories you will probably hate this. It's like the Chasing Amy of stoner films. I gave it a commendable 7/10.

When the opening credits began to roll for "Bong Water," I was beside myself with glee. Luke Wilson? Jeremy Sisto? Andy Dick? It's too good to be true, I thought. I was right. This movie is a complete waste of time, not only for viewers, but for those who actually participated in its creation. Honestly, the studio exec who gave this film the green light should rethink their career choice. The story revolves around the budding (no pun intended) relationship between David, a mellowed out pot dealer played by the ever-charming Luke Wilson, and Serena, a leach who gives all women bad names played terribly by Alicia Witt. The evolution of their relationship spans a three-week time period, and for those of us living in the real world, that was hard to swallow. The two get together based on Serena's desire to promote David's pot-induced art work. Within a few weeks time, though, she's scamming her way into someone else's life, with unbelievable results. In all, this movie has no plot, no strong story line, and no reason to ever grab an audience's attention. Alicia Witt, who could stand to take some acting classes, is truly unbelievable and hard to watch. I don't care if she's a "real" red head and all men love that... those of us who can see past the carrot top see that this actress (and I use that term loosely) should go back to school and find a different career. If you are going to see this movie (and really, you should run screaming if presented with the prospect), look forward to light-hearted and silly performances by Andy Dick, Jack Black, and Brittany Murphy, though they aren't enough reason to actually sit through this 97-minute bore. You are better off catching Dick's performances in other quirky flicks, or Black's work in "High Fidelity" or "Tenacious D," or Murphy's fun performances in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and "Clueless." If you are truly dead set on a stoner flick, check out "Friday", "Half-Baked", or "Homegrown." "Bong Water" hardly even touches on the topic of the title.

I have a soft spot for the Stoner genre - I can't help it. And, unlike some of the posters about this film, I really enjoyed "Half-Baked" - it was good-natured and humble. Though the cover for "Bongwater" gave me impression of those indie movies given a shamelessly misleading advertising "angle" by companies eager to earn back even a third of the money they spent on it, I took a chance because I like Jack Black and Luke Wilson and there's always room for one more stoner movie. Bad idea. Not a stoner movie (the drug sequences are uniformly embarrassing), not a comedy, and never affecting, "Bongwater" stinks; blighted with a strained script, unfocused direction, and the kind of nebulous yet righteously sadistic morality that belongs in a Joel Schumacher opus, not an indie film. Even more disturbing, this movie shook up my opinions about actors I'd always thought I liked. Luke Wilson, so laconically charming in Wes Anderson's movies, is wooden here, the usually amusing Andy Dick is boring, and comic god Jack Black appears in only one scene that even begins to make proper use of him. And then there's Alicia Witt - I liked her OK in "Cecil B. Demented," but her performance in "Bongwater" is so excruciatingly pretentious, bratty, and shrill (she must have attended the Liza Minelli school of acting) that I pledge to never again watch another movie in which she appears.

Bottom line: I'd take the most braindead of stoner comedies over this tone-deaf, small-minded, and almost utterly unfunny movie. Even if you're a Tenacious D completist, think hard before you spend money on "Bongwater."

Saw this at the Temecula Valley Film Festival last week. One of the best ones there. Luke Wilson is great, Alicia Witt is *tops*. Looking for more of her as soon as possible. I know someone exactly like the character she plays here. Very funny, very cool movie.

Fans of movies such as "Half-Baked", "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and "Orgazmo", should see this once in their lifetime. Don't be fooled by poor reviews. This movie is the best vehicle for Jack Black's obscure comedy I have seen to date (07/2005). Inter character relationships and general plot progression are over emphasized and simplified in a camp like fashion that, reminds me "Cheech and Chong". Sometimes this is done at a sacrifice to depth, but come on if I wanted to watch "Fight Club" or "Lord of the Rings" I would have. This movie only does one thing well, as so many movies do today, but that doesn't make it dull. I recommend this only to viewers who want to have some friends over, eat a big meal, get "into" the movie, and laugh at potheads being potheads.