A hot mess whose sub-par direction kind of neutralizes its fantastic comedic premise, as well as the delight of some of its wonky supporting performances, High School is a willfully “stupid” stoner comedy, yes, but it also illustrates the gap between stupid done right and merely indulged too far.
Co-written and directed by John Stahlberg, the film centers on a straight-arrow kid and soon-to-be valedictorian, Henry Burke (Matt Bush), who takes a healthy hit of potent weed from his estranged stoner friend, Breaux (Sean Marquette), on what turns out to be the day before his deranged principal, Leslie Gordon (Michael Chiklis), institutes a sweeping anti-drug policy that jeopardizes the academic goodwill and standing for which Henry has labored so long.
Faced with being unable to pass a mandatory drug test for students, Henry and Breaux concoct a masterful on-the-fly scheme — to steal some even more extra strength ganja from an epically eccentric dealer, Psycho Ed (Adrien Brody), in an aim to spike the offerings of their school’s bake sale, get everyone blazed and thus invalidate the tests. This eventually leads to assistant principal Brandon Ellis (Colin Hanks) and others wandering around dazed and confused, while a panicked Henry and Breaux try to scrape up enough money to stave off a beatdown and/or murder at the hands of the aptly named Psycho Ed.
High School‘s basic premise is a fantastic one, ripe with possibilities for misdirection and commingled genre hijinks. Unfortunately, its execution leaves much to be desired; half-sketched storylines and scenes jostle and abut one another in awkward fashion. Stahlberg reworked the script a couple times, with Erik Linhorst (who also gets a co-story credit) and Stephen Susco, and the movie — especially its messy third act and harebrained finale — seems to bear traces of different drafts never quite smoothly integrated into one final, cohesive story. Several characters and beats could and probably should be easily jettisoned.
The leaves the movie leaning mightily upon the efforts of its cast. For a good while, that works. Bush, who cut such an amusing supporting figure in Adventureland, has comedic chops, and is an engaging and sympathetic lead. And Brody has an absolute blast, chewing scenery left and right as a corn-rowed, pop-eyed nutjob. But a deeper exploration of some of the things that could have helped make High School truly unique and memorable — the idea that Breaux is Henry’s ex-best friend from middle school, and a guy he “outgrew,” for instance — get traded and/or bypassed too often for recycled, low-grade laughs. In embracing yawning and pointless authority-as-villainy shtick, Stahlberg illustrates that, well, he’s happily left his mind back in high school. The movie High School, meanwhile, requires a bit smarter and more focused treatment. For more information on the movie, click here to check out its website. (Anchor Bay, R, 100 minutes)
