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.

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.

This film is a lighthearted, funny, and wholesome presentation of (1) the conflict between state medical marijuana laws and federal anti-drug laws, and (2) the evidence that marijuana can't do you much harm. If you are steeped in cannabis culture or follow legal developments concerning medical marijuana, none of the information will be new to you. You already know that the war on drugs is out of step with the science about cannabis use, and you know the current state of the law affecting medical dispensaries. Benson is likable and wholesome, and the movie is pleasant and funny. Because the movie is not dense or righteous, it has the capacity to reach interested folks who aren't already in the know and don't want to hear a rant about legalization.

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!

After being told to watch this by various of my stoner friends, i decided to watch it on youtube. This film is a joke turned documentary, a parody of Super Size Me but with cannabis instead of MC Donald's. What i expected was to watch this guy smoke tons of weed and cover subjects related to it, both of which are seldomely met. The truth is, Super High Me consists mostly of Doug Benson stand up act. So for the majority, we just get jokes about being high with a pointless celebrity appearance here and there, with very little concerning the legislation of cannabis. The main point is this, watching someone be sober for 30 days, then be stoned for 30 days, isn't exactly what i'd call entertainment or quality film-making.

There's only about 3/4 tests. One for psychic ability (is there a point?), One for SAT scores, One for Sperm Count, and one for basic intelligence i guess you'd say. Each of these are covered with about 30-40 seconds of screen time, twice in the movie, so your obviously not getting a lot of information for the majority. This movie pretty much just glamorizes California throughout, cause thats the subject most covered. Yes they have dispendencys with different types of pot, yes they have DEA take downs, and yes they have medical mary jane. I covered that in a, probably grammar incorrect, sentence. Here, its covered for about 12-18 minutes, very boring. And for a movie called Super High Me, i expected to see way more usage. There's a surprising lack of content, and as i said before, the majority of the movie is his stand up act.

The actual production is pretty limited. Basically a guy follows Doug around with a camera, not much else, no interview shots are planned or anything like a normal documentary, the only shot setups i really noticed are those of his stand up act, so pretty much its just a guy with a camera filming people talking. No questions are really asked, instead we just have stoners talking about gibberish regarding pot (Although that pot prince guy was pretty hilarious). The sound balance is uneven, at times music will play and render a speaker inaudible. The interviewees don't exactly have any significance, at one point one there is Brian Posehn, who just eats his burger, doesn't say crap, and the scene ends, and also one with his co-star Sarah Silverman, just taking some type of rip from some type of vaporizer, the guitarists of janes addiction is there playing some chords not saying a thing, the scene ends. This is pretty much proof that someone in the crew has to be sober for a movie to be good.

So pretty much all you have here is stand up, which at times, is actually pretty funny. The actual focus of the documentary, isn't exactly 'focused'. Stoners just aren't that interesting, they smoke pot, and sit back and be lazy, thats about it. I'm a pothead who smokes pretty damn often, and i wasn't exactly impressed. Smoke a blunt and watch something a little bit more worthwhile like half baked or harold and kumar, this isn't really a entertaining or groundbreaking documentary. If your really interested in the effects and culture of cannabis, check out bbc's show Should I Smoke Dope, its pretty much what this should have been.