How High (2001)

27% of critics liked it
(56 reviews)
79% of users liked it
(62,857 ratings)

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… More 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, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Jesse Dylan
Written By: Dustin Lee Abraham, Brad Kaaya
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 21, 2001 Wide
On DVD: May 21, 2002
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Despite the comedy's reliance on drug humor, first-time director Jesse Dylan is actually less interested in getting high than in seeing how low he can go.
Joe Leydon, Variety
Maintains a consistent level of a swaggering, semi-anarchic silliness reminiscent of '70s youth-skewing comedies.
Jessica Winter, Village Voice
Too lazy to be a comedy, too conventional to be a head movie.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Features a fine mix of several generations of comic talent plus a terrific soundtrack from its stars.
Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle
How High doesn't look like a movie somebody made. It looks like a movie somebody hallucinated and put up on the screen.
Gene Seymour, Newsday
Sample what you want. Doze through the rest.
Heather Wadowski, Film Threat
The jokes aren't funny, the characters aren't fully developed and poor editing only makes a humorless story confusing.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
Silly, sloppy, and liberated from any sense of pacing or plot
Jonathan R. Perry, Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)
Sinfully tasteless cinema was everywhere in 2001 - but this movie is so bad it's Freudian.
Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide
As it stands, a movie like How High does nothing more than perpetuate the belief that marijuana is enjoyed solely by idiots.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Not all the gags work, not all the gross-outs serve the greater good, but How High is funny, quick, and the very definition of a pleasant surprise.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
If at all possible, How High's pristine transfer to DVD may actually work against the film's ganja-stoked visual palette.
Ellen Kim, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
You've seen it before.
Frank Ochieng, Movie Eye
This is one clumsy cannabis comedy that couldn't give the late Timothy Leary a natural high worth experiencing! Nip this "joint" session in the bud!
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel, 3BlackChicks Review
Can they go any lower?
Adam Nayman, eye WEEKLY
For better or for worse, How High knows what its audience wants and serves it to them, straight up, without any sort of moral or ethical chaser.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Less outrageous than simply desperate.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Feebly crafted in virtually every way imaginable -- directing, cinematography, acting, scriptwriting.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Eric A

It's good because it's that stupid.....if that makes any sense.
Michael G

Aside from the words "ridiculous fun" there's not much else I can really say to describe How High. It's definitely a must for Wu-Tang fans and fans of pot comedy but when you're dealing with a movie about two potheads who get admitted and ace classes at… More
Aside from the words "ridiculous fun" there's not much else I can really say to describe How High. It's definitely a must for Wu-Tang fans and fans of pot comedy but when you're dealing with a movie about two potheads who get admitted and ace classes at Harvard because of the ghost of their friends who appears whenever they smoke a certain kind of strain of pot you kind of know what you're dealing with. If you're not watching How High under the influence you're definitely doing something wrong...
Wahida K

How high can you throw me?
Coxxie M

wow there is nothing funny about this movie... these assholes should should just give up man
Tim S

Pothead comedies hit too close to home for me.
Bobby H

This movie is pretty funny. It's total fantasy and I found it more then far out, at times, but im assuming thats what they were going for. For a couple of rappers, this is one of the better comedies I've seen.
John M

"How High" had some very good jokes, but it didn't get much farther than that.
Leo L

Hilarious!