User reviews

Method Man and Redman - but especially the former, who also is the lead in this and the duo! They deliver - and I can't imagine that a (pseudo?) Sequel without them works! I might watch How High 2 one day, but from what I read on here the movie that was released 18 years after the original does not stand up to this.

And it's not that this sets a high filmmaking bar or anything, but it does deliver the goods when it comes to comedy, especially the kind that has to do with ... a certain drug, that has been legalized in some countries and parts of the world. Even if I personally don't smoke at all, it seems that if anyone was to smoke anything it should be this instead of the normal cigarettes that do way more harm to your health.

But this is not about a social message and should not be viewed as such! This is an over the top comedy that does not make much sense in the real world (a lot of this are being taken to a degree that are plain ridiculous - for comedy effect). The movie has quite the charm I have to admit and if you are not too PC, you can and will laugh at the madness at hand here

Jesse Dylan's (yes son of Bob Dylan if that's and indication) How High is a concoction of weed, more weed, college and sheer belly laughs. There is something about marijuana used in comedies that makes the comedy better, though it depends on if the jokes are delivered right and with the right zing. Cheech and Chong had that to a T and comedies like Half Baked and Friday got pretty close to that tradition, as does this movie which is surprising since this is Method Man and Redman's first comedy together and is co-produced by Danny DeVito.

Method Man here is a mass weed grower who grinds the ashes of his departed friend into his plant which helps him and his new friend played by Redman, score high on exams that get them excepted into Harvard university. This kicks off the usual lot of characters you would expect in a college comedy- the losers, the jock, the overly harsh teachers and dean, the nice girl the lead gets and other girls.

From the looks of that plotline it looks pretty standard and it is if you take the film as seriously as you would Up In Smoke and Animal House, but the film's big kick comes from the charm (did I just say that?) and humor from the two stars, the gags they encounter and the supporting characters input as well. In other words, if you mind the grass, this isn't for you, but for people who are fans of the stars or just want a high comedy time, this is for you. Hector Elizondo, Jeffrey Jones have small parts; Cypress Hill appears unbilled. A-

Like many other people, I expected a stereotypical "black" movie or a "pot" movie. And sure, you have many black jokes and many pot jokes in this film, but it's done in a surprisingly intelligent way that was both funny and incredibly original. Too many drug movies are simply rehashed (pun intended) but this was not one of them.

The movie has Method Man and Redman entering Harvard where they teach others to stop being so uptight. Again, it sounds over like you've seen it before, but certain things here you won't see elsewhere. Things I can't say without giving away later parts of the film. But I can say it crosses a line where if you are easily offended or are very patriotic, you might get a little steamed.

The acting? Fine, for a comedy. The plot, decent. The writing, quite good. The music was surprisingly good. There was, of course, a great deal of rap music. But other kinds of music were incorporated to round the feel of the movie out. I even heard Rammstein, which would seem out of place but really wasn't.

Oh, and Lark Voorhies ("Saved by the Bell") co-stars, which would make this the second greatest college film to star a SBTB alumnus (the best being "Dead Man on Campus").

I would recommend this film. I went in to it expecting some horrible trash, but left with a smile on my face and a new appreciation for Method Man and Redman.

It's been done before in "Friday", and "Up in Smoke." There's no great plot line. There's no moral plea. There's no character development, cool graphics, intense cinematography or internal conflict. And yet.

This movie defies all the rules of story writing and film making. The absolute preposterousness of the storyline alone is intellectually offensive. And yet.

It was hilarious. From beginning to end, I laughed.

Warning: This is what my mother would call "ignorant humor". The things that in the opinion of the majority degrade and offend, but for some reason are funny.

Rappers Method Man (Wu Tang Clan) and Redman play two "potheads" (for lack of a better term) who through the use of a magical herb attain brilliance and gain acceptance to Harvard University. There is a scene that spoofs the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial where Method's character Silas sits in his car with a bag of contraband and no blunt. In the next car Redman's character Jamal sits in his car with blunt and no contraband. And thus a friendship is born. The two Ivy Leaguers wreak havoc along the Eastern Seaboard Cheech and Chong style.

You can tell by watching his MTV Cribs special that he has a funny bone. But who knew Redman was a bonafide comedian. Method Man was more or less the straight man but the rest of the ensemble cast provided enough laughs to split your sides. Especially notable was Mike Epps who portrayed Babypowder the Pimp. Can you imagine a pimp at Harvard? The alumni will no doubt write many letters.

Parents: The subject matter of this film is questionable. This film may not be suitable for children. Unless you smoked a lot of "grass" back in the 70's. Then you can't trip because you'll be hypocrite if you do.

There's more marijuana in this film than "Friday" and "Next Friday" put together. If that's a turn on for you then by all means see the film.

If it's a turn off for you go see it anyway. The Harvard Pimp is worth it.

Don't tell my mother I laughed.

A funny movie for weed smokers. It's not to be taken seriously. Some parts are real stupid, like the pimp guys, while some are make you chuckle. I don't know if I'd recommend it. C, maybe C+, 6/10

Not a great movie, but it keeps your attention and does have some laughs. I don't do any of that ganja stuff, but this was still pretty entertaining to me.

Fortunately, fart and puke jokes were kept to a minimum (about two of the former, and just one of the latter); otherwise it was pretty intelligent and tasteful, all things considered. Lotta funny racial stuff. A bit of stereotyping, yeah, but most of it was intentional and for comedic effect (like the pimps, which weren't that funny, though). There were a lot of interesting and relevant social points in there, too. I think.

The thing about digging up the dead president and blending his hand was some fun sh!t, man! Too bad it didn't work (it was supposed to conjure up the guy's ghost).

Hot damn, Lark Voorhies is one mouthwateringly sweet babe. Worth watching just for her.

I don't reckon I'll ever bother to see it again, though. Or on second thought, maybe I will.

5 out of 10.

This movie is legendary! Method Man Redman are so awesome throughout, they have the best personalities! A movie about getting high, going to Harvard and being hilarious in many scenes. Jesse Dylan made such a classic gem in comedy/ entertainment. I've seen How High many years ago and didn't appreciate it as much now I think it's a pleasant experience that I love!

"How High" tells of two ghetto blacks (the African American equivalent of Cheech & Chong) who smoke a friend (literally) which gets them into Harvard where they...um, do stuff. A classy presentation with considerable less classy humor, this flick has a much more clever premise than plot and plot than story. Okay stuff for those into raunchy outrageousness which crosses the black/white divide.

Note - The DVD I watched had no closed captioning but did have subtitles were all over the screen and so large they must have been intended for the visually impaired.

I understand the fact that everyone has got their own taste when it comes to a movie genre and therefore some might feel that a "comedy" is based on a particular set of principles, essentially going into humour. But there are different ways in which many people perceive humour, some believe it's all about the jokes, some enjoy the swearing involved and others might love the typical Woody Allen script.

This movie isn't set to achieve an Oscar or any kind of prestigious award. I am pretty sure that that was the last thing that came through the writer's and director's minds. The only thing they intended to do was to make a film that could be enjoyed by the audience that loves the stereo-typing comedy films, which to be honest is growing faster and faster. And they nailed it.

The story is hilarious, the acting, well method and redman are hilarious at what they do best, which is fool around. Don't expect any intelligent sophisticated humour or satire. I'm not implying that the movie is full of dumb humour, on the contrary, its loaded with brilliant funny situations and loads of jokes. If you liked soul plane, then you're going to love this one.

So don't vote negatively just because it wasn't your cup of tea and try to understand that there's a different generation out there that really appreciates a good fun entertaining movie to watch as they also appreciate the other styles of "comedy".

I watched the film High and thought it was hilarious, I kept cracking up. But I watched it sober and didn't really think it was that funny. So morale of the story if you want to enjoy the film you better watch it high.

Making a comedy based around pot-smoking, for an appropriate audience that certainly doesn't want to have to concentrate too much, should not usually pose much of a problem for film-makers. But for the producers of this movie they sure have proved that this was a challenge they were willing to not only take on and accept, but then monumentally lose at.

Production-value wise it comes across as a quite polished and adequately accomplished piece, mostly on the whole. The only problem being, and it's a biggy.... is that the predicaments, scenes, and jokes just aren't all that funny. And that is even though they are unquestionably coming from the almost bottomless source-material pit known as "base-humour". Having seen the fantastic "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" and the absolutely superb and unmatched "Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" i know how good African-American base-humour comedies can be. In fact, Juice in the Hood is easily one of the best comedies i have ever seen. But this movie pales into absolute insignificance when compared to the non-stop bellylaugh quality humour of either of those. And therefore, with such high expectations, it only added to my eventual disappointment when i watched this film of mostly monotonous and largely childish fodder. Terrible!

Being a proud fan of lowbrow humor and a fan of Method Man and Redman, "How High" seemed like a no-brainer comedy, and I was right! This movie can only do harm to people who get offended easily at racial stereotypes, pot smoking and more pot smoking. The movie pokes fun at everyone; class and race. One glance at How High would make you think they're trying to make another "Animal House". Well, I think it's up there. It's got everything except the fraternities. From childish pranks to goofy humor, Meth and Red carry the movie to its predictable conclusion. Many people will write this off as another "Black comedy", but it really is a comedy for everyone. It just "happens" to star two charismatic rap artists. Director Jesse Dylan (yes, Bob's son) knows how to set up a joke and pull the punchline. This film is far funnier than the last two "Friday" films combined (Yes, let's just compare it to other pothead comedies). The supporting cast is terrific as well, including the clueless Fred Willard and uptight Obba Babatunde. The only downside is Mike Epps' pimp character, done much better by Eddie Griffin in "Deuce Bigalow."

The bottom line: Rent it, have a few beers and some good laughs without taking it too seriously.

You can't beat Method Man and Redman as a team in rap music and you can't do it in dope smoking comedies. Cheech and Chong look out, here comes Harvard's worst nightmare. Funny beyond all belief. If you seen Half-Baked, this is better.

If you have not seen this movie yet i would suggest that you would. If your big hip hop fans like i am you'll be pleased with this title. Don't expect it to be as good as the friday series though. But it's still a renter that will make for a good weekend watcher. Cheech and Chong mixed with a little hip hop flavor.

"How High" was one of those pointless, utterly asinine movies that has the ability to make you laugh in spite of how ridiculous the plot is. You can't get a more ridiculous plot than two stoners smoking their dead friend's ashes and then being able to see him.

Even though Method Man and Redman aren't the best actors in the world, the movie fit their abilities. It was a silly movie that couldn't be taken slightly serious, so what's the big deal of having two rappers with mediocre acting abilities playing the lead roles?

The movie was actually quite hilarious, and it got funnier the more times I saw it.

This movie does nothing but reinforce the stereotype that urban blacks are just sex crazed weed smoking bums expecting a free ride for everything in life. Its not even funny and the two main stars are pathetic actors anyways. If african americans want to change their image and stereotype(proved true so many times) and not be generalised like they are then movies like this arent a good way to start.

Firstly I want to say: I have to comment this film as reaction to negative commentaries. I found that people who have written attacking commentary must have a bad experience with drugs (I mean light, I count alcohol in this group), or are hypocritical and never taste it. Most people are enjoying talking (and writing) about things that they don't know and that they don't understand. I vote 9 because it is great comedy even I know that most people will not understand 90 percent of jokes. But every voting is subjective, isn't it? So for people who did not see this film ever and maybe they will: don't expect anything, because expectation will make deformation of your feelings and understanding. And If you are apriori of anti-drugs intence: do not see it rather. It is very easy to give it bad evaluation but it is very difficult to make good comedy. Keep it in mind and vote if you like it. And if you liked it, watch it again: you will find another jokes.

Dear readers, are you worn out from Oscar Season? Has the weighty subject matter of films like "A Beautiful Mind" and "Ali" got you down? Has the emphasis on making the world a better place gotten on your damn nerves already? I can think of no better remedy than "How High." No real story, no real moral, and no one comes out of this a better person, but dear sweet Lord is it funny.

Redman and Method Man star as losers from the projects who, through contrivances so funny I cannot reveal them here, have grown a magical Marijuana plant. This plant makes them smarter and they get into Harvard, where hilarity ensues. That's pretty much it. "How High" is juvenile and structureless with characters who have no arc, but that doesn't matter. This film's duty to the audience, first and foremost, is to make them laugh. And indeed it does. This is the first movie I've seen in a long while in this Farrelly Brothers wasteland that knows how to do gross-out comedy successfully. Movies like "Freddy Got Fingered" and "Not Another Teen Movie" remember the gross-out, but not the comedy.

There will be some who say that this is vulgar and tasteless and has no redeeming social value. You will get no argument from me, but therein lies its charm. "How High" takes nothing sacred and doesn't play it safe, as opposed to the Adam Sandler movies where he feels the need to redeem himself.

And there will be a few more who say, in this post "Bamboozled" era, that this film caters to the absolute worst in a predominantly African-American audience. There I will disagree, for "How High" is a movie about pot, which gets the same response out of everyone. The race of the main characters, I believe, is incidental. This could be about two white guys and the results would look roughly the same.

I could talk about the political response to this film for ages, but this film doesn't really warrant such a discussion. It's a comedy, which by definition is designed to make you laugh, and it's successful if it meets that end. Besides, how foolish would you look if you got into a discussion of the social ramifications of a movie like this?

I just saw how high, this film could possibly be the worst movie ever made. It had no redeeming value whatsoever. Method man is a horrible actor, redman is even worse. It was clear that this movie was trying to make, something close to half baked or animal house or trying to find a midpoint in between them and it fails miserably on all fronts. The script was horrendous, it played out like a second rate student film. Every little thing in the movie was a complete cliche. everything from the hot smart girl, to the evil dean who must be stopped. There was simply not a single funny moment during this entire movie. I recommend this to know one not even, hardcore fans of Method man and Red man. Guys stick to the Wu Tang Clan.