Themes: Party Film, Culture Clash, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Method Man, Redman, Obba Babatunde, Mike Epps, Anna Maria Horsford, Fred Willard
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A pair of real-life multi-platinum rap artists star in this genial substance abuse comedy recalling the pro-marijuana work of Cheech and Chong and such films as Half Baked (1998). Silas (Method Man) and Jamal (Redman) are buddies who enjoy smoking voluminous amounts of the illegal plant. They end up in the possession of some magical weed that enhances their brainpower during college entrance exams, thus enabling them to enter that esteemed institution of learning, Harvard University. Once firmly ensconced in the halls of academia, however, the pals run out of their supernatural supply and are forced to get creative in the pursuit of an Ivy League degree. Included in their narcotic-addled plans: smoking the bones of dead president John Quincy Adams. Produced by Danny DeVito's Jersey Films, How High (2001) co-stars Obba Babatunde, Fred Willard, and Hector Elizondo. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
The plot is centered around two underachieving pot smokers - Silas (Method Man) and Jamal (Redman). When Silas' friend Ivory (Chuck Davis) dies, Silas uses his ashes as fertilizer for a new batch of marijuana. While both are sitting in the parking lot before taking their THC (Testing for Higher Credentials, as opposed to SAT) exams for college, neither is able to smoke their individual marijuana stash without the help of the other. They soon discover that smoking Silas' new batch summons the ghost of the recently deceased Ivory. Ivory gives them the exact test answers and both of them pass with perfect scores.
Several dubious colleges offer the pair scholarships, but none of them are appealing. Eventually, Chancellor Huntley (Fred Willard) suggests the two apply to Harvard University. They accept the offer and continue using the magic weed to succeed at the university. They meet several interesting students, such as Tuan, an Asian child prodigy, Bart (Chris Elwood), a snobby rowing team captain, and Jeffrey (Justin Urich), their roommate who is forced to perform humiliating acts as part of a fraternity initiation. Jamal brought along his fellow pot-smoker "I Need Money" (Al Shearer). Jamal falls for the daughter of the Vice President. Bart is set against Jamal in sports, and Silas in love when the latter falls for his girlfriend, Lauren (Lark Voorhies). The "Ivory" bush is eventually stolen by the nerdy volunteer student guard Gerald (T.J. Thyne), who smokes all of it except for a few tiny leaves. With the "Ivory" now gone, the pair try studying first with no success then try to dig up and smoke the remains of John Quincy Adams, but it doesn't fare any better either. Silas concocts a "truth serum" using the remnants of "Ivory" in an attempt to get a passing grade in botany. In the end, Benjamin Franklin (whose bong was discovered by Lauren) appears back with Ivory at an alumni meeting to convince the congregation that Silas and Jamal should stay at Harvard.
Garrett Morris as canned pork chop commercial pitchman along with Tracy Morgan
Sequel
In an interview with OutThaBoxTV.net during October 2008, Redman announced that the sequel was in the middle of shooting, while pointing out a feeling that "we wanna represent all the smokers," believing that since How High no one has done justice on a weed smoker's film.[3] In April 2009, it was reported that Redman blames Universal Pictures for the release delay, stating: "They're not opening that money door for us to shoot it. We promoted the shit out of that movie. We got the whole world waiting for a How High 2."[4]
