Reefer Madness

Just saw Reefer Madness tonight on Showtime and it was fantastic. I thought the score is very relevant to the politics that are going on currently and were right on target. It was interesting to hear the lyrics commenting on the political "spin" that seems to be very relevant to both political parties. Also the targeting "fear" instead of actual problems is very representative of today's political climate.

The cast was great too, especially Christian Campbell who is very talented and very good looking as well - he should be in more! I also enjoyed Steven Weber and Alan Cumming who have always been favorites of mine.

Reefer Madness should give us all new hope for the return of the movie-musical genre and the sweet days of Rocky Horror-style comedy! I love it when a musical is adapted from stage to screen, and the director takes full advantage of things that can be done in a movie that cannot be realized on stage. Reefer Madness takes full advantage of its film medium while still maintaining an unfailing sense of theatricality. The direction, choreography and vocal performances are fantastic.

This awesome movie is flawlessly cast and realized. It's a must-see for any fans of musicals, intelligent comedy and, well, weed.

Reefer Madness is fun, quirky, clever and exciting. A perfect spoof of the original Reefer Madness (also known as 'Tell Your Children').

The cast is a breath of fresh air, with Christian Campbell and Kristen Bell playing the high-school sweethearts soon to fall victim to 'reefer madness', Alan Cumming as the lecturer against the evils of the reefer (the narrator) and several other characters, and Neve Campbell playing the proprietor of the Soda shop.

Even more so than in the TV show Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell is simply adorable. Whether she is playing an angelic do-gooder, a dominatrix, or a teenage PI, you simply can not go past the star dust emanating from Kristen Bell. She has amazing vocal strength and uses it perfectly in this film.

This film is so much better than the 1936 trash-fest that no mere comparison can do it justice. Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical is a smart, funny, and well performed parody of American paranoia, using the original Reefer Madness plot as a launching point to satirize McCarthy, fundamentalism, race, and the obsession with privilege, wealth and 'breeding' which have so sadly marred our history.

Unlike the original, nearly everything in this production is done right. The likable characters are the good ones, and the villains are truly despicable. The addition of a decent set of amusing tunes helps to keep the plot moving along (one of the biggest failures of the original film was the inconsistent and often painfully drawn out plot), and the use of some talented Broadway players (Christian Campbell and Kristen Bell are particularly fun to watch) as well as a script guided by rational thought as opposed to ignorance (as was the case in 1936), all make this film unusually entertaining and funny (the author generally dislikes straight comedies and has very high standards for musicals).

(Sorry for all the parenthetical statements) Most of you are probably aware of the plot, so I will summarize what distinguishes this from the original rather than simply summarizing the film. This version of Reefer Madness is less a paranoid right-wing attack on marijuana use than an amusing musical which compares the pot-scares that inspired the original film in 1936 to McCarthyism, fundamentalism, racism and various other ethical pathologies America has faced in its history (and today). The film does not promote marijuana use, but does play up the absurdity of the arguments that make it appear to be more harmful than, for example, cigarettes, alcohol, heroin, etc - all of which have been or were, at one time, used by the drug's most vocal enemies.

Jimmy Harper, in his voyage from an all-American high school kid to a dope-fiend, meets Satan, Jesus, Joan of Arc, the undead, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt along the way, ending up in a lot of trouble with the law. Spurning his high school sweet heart and terrifying his family, Jimmy sinks deeper and deeper into a pot-crazed state of insatiable lust, violence and - of course - jazz. Finally, this version ends differently from the 1936 film - but I won't give away the conclusion.

For me, giving a musical comedy a 7 is some of the highest praise I can give (The Wizard of Oz, Tommy and Singin in the Rain get 9s), so, if you're into this kind of thing, you really should check this one out.

People that didn't like this...just don't like musicals and that's fine. In this day in age where people are so ready to cast musicals off into the film industry abyss, it is great to see something like this come along. If you are turned off by the subject matter you just don't get it. See the original "instructional" short and you will, all too quickly, understand that this movie is right on the money. Big brother government + media fear = America of today and back in the 30's. Just think back to last years terror threat scenarios and you will begin to understand how our government perfers to control by fear and manipulation. Not only is this movie a riot, to me this movie captured the essence of paranoia and "quirkyness" the first one really had. It is well written and combines the best aspects of movies like "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Little Shop of Horrors", both of which are classics as I'm sure this one is destined to become.