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Half Baked
Directed by: Tamra Davis
Starring: Dave Chappelle
Genre:
Comedy
Run Time: 82
min.
Release Date:
January 1998
On The Web:
UnOfficial
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
HALF-BAKED is a film
trying to mimic something along the lines of UP IN SMOKE in terms
of incredulity and sophomorism, but fails to elicit the needed
chuckle-factor it so ardently strives for. We even get a semi-cameo
performance from Tommy Chong as a prison inmate known as “The Squirrel
Master” but even his over-the-top antics couldn’t save the film.
I’m not a big Dave Chappelle fan so that’s probably a factor in my
choice to review this film negatively. I don’t watch THE CHAPPELLE
SHOW; I just can’t stomach his lowbrow comedy. I am, however, a
lover of Cheech and Chong’s films of the late 70s and early 80s. They
were the very personification of the drug culture spilling over from the
60s.
The best “pot” movie of late that I can recall was THE BIG LEBOWSKI
starring Jeff Bridges. More character piece than drug-culture talk, it
had a very flawed and funny “Dude” at its core. Here with Half-Baked,
the focus is muddled with side-jokes that often miss their marks.
The story is that of four marijuana smokin’ friends who live lives of
idleness and degeneracy. One buzzed-out day they send Kenny (Harland
Williams) out on a munchies run. But while out collecting groceries
galore, Kenny accidentally feeds all of the food to a diabetic police
horse standing outside the store. The horse (of course) keels over of
hyperglycemia and promptly dies. Kenny is whisked off to prison and a
very serious threat to his anal virginity looms large. Protected by “The
Squirrel Master” for now, Kenny must get bailed out before his protector
hits parole. His three free buddies Thurgood (Chappelle), Scarface
(Guillermo Diaz) and Brian (Jim Breuer) must come up with a flood of
funds to spring him. Instead of ingenuity, though, they devise a
not-so-sophisticated plan of selling lots and lots of weed. The trouble
is, though, that another local drug lord wants in on their scheme. Also,
Thurgood has fallen for a beautiful woman who’s father is in prison for
selling dope, and Thurgood must decide between love and getting high.
Homage to pot movies aside, the film simply isn’t funny. There are a few
lines that smack of excessive attempts to make the characters laughable
(“I don’t do drugs. I smoke pot.”) and even they just don’t hit the ol’
funny bone.
The biggest blessing is that the film is only 82 minutes, so you don’t
have to put up long with it regardless.
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Image from Half Baked
DVD cost: $10.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
While Dave Chappelle was
on "Inside The Actors Studio" (1994) in 2006, he revealed that he was
unhappy with the final product and claimed that the script he co-wrote
was much funnier, and that the final result was "a weed movie for kids".
Movie Quote: "This
horse is a diabetic!"
Other Actors/Actresses
from Half Baked
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