# Half Baked (1998)

### reviewed by
Nathaniel R. Atcheson

    Half Baked (1998)

Director: Tamra Davis Cast: David Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams, Guillermo Diaz, Rachel True, Laura Silverman, Steven Wright, Clarence Williams Rated R: Language, drug use

by Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)

I think it might be mildly inappropriate for me to suggest that you go out and smoke large quantities of marijuana before watching Half Baked. Of course, if you are in the target audience for this film, it is very likely that you will do so without my urging. Still, I think it is necessary (and almost certainly intended) that viewers who want to enjoy this film get stoned before hand. I, for one, did not. I just watched it. All I had in my system was a sub sandwich and half a beer.

And that's probably why I didn't like it. I guess I liked some of it (I did laugh sometimes), but the film is far beyond all implications of the word "stupid." It's a lawless and inept film with short bursts of humor-inducing mayhem and even shorter bursts of creativity. These bursts, although small, are still present at least, so I'm consciously giving Half Baked credit for trying. But it's just so dumb.

The best scene in the film is the first one, where we meet our four heroes as young teenagers learning the virtues of smoking weed. They first try it and, of course, it does nothing. Soon, though, they're stumbling around in a convenience store saying "Woah" a lot. We see them in ever-so-slow motion, holding gargantuan candy bars and bursting out of immense soda cups. And it's very funny, even if you aren't stoned.

But from there it's all down hill. It turns out the focus is on Thurgood (David Chappelle), a custodian (who does not like to be referred to as a "janitor"). He lives with his three buddies, Brian (Jim Breuer), Scarface (Guillermo Diaz), and Kenny (Harland Williams). Kenny accidentally kills a diabetic police horse (you read that right) and is sent quickly to jail on $1 million bail. The three guys decide that the only way to save their friend is to steal marijuana from the hospital in which Thurgood works (it's *really* good weed) and sell it on the street.

Naturally, their plan works out until the local drug czar Samson (Clarence Williams) finds out that much of his profit is going the way of these dope heads and makes life very difficult for them. Meanwhile, Thurgood is trying to maintain a steady relationship with a beautiful woman whom he loves (Rachel True). Her father is in jail for trafficking drugs, and she is adamantly opposed to them, so Thurgood has to lie about what he spends all of his time doing. I liked the acting. Chappelle is often funny, and Harland Williams as the poor imprisoned Kenny is just about the funniest guy in the film. But Half Baked is too silly to be taken seriously in any way. I know it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but it's not witty or satirical like it could (and should) have been. And because it's so unreasonably unrealistic, it doesn't serve as an effective portrait of today's youth or anything else. It's mindless entertainment in its purest form. I suppose I could advocate the makers and say that the film is so backwards and psychotic because it is supposed to be through the eyes of the characters, but I think I'd be giving them too much credit.

Movies like this are typically destroyed because of their need for a beginning-to-end story. The story in this one is particularly dumb. It is dumb not simply because of its nature, but because of its completely slapstick execution by director Tamra Davis. The fact that Kenny kills a diabetic police horse is ridiculous enough (the scene is very funny, actually), but the numerous scenes that follow--which include attempted rape and frequent use of the phrase, "He's my bitch!"--push the envelope of believability. And the last half of the film, including a double-cross and a police stakeout, are so bad that I found myself taking deep breaths and staring at the ceiling of the theater.

I suppose that, maybe, I could have suspended my disbelief, but only in comparison to the rest of the film. It's going along okay until the heroes start flying through the air. Then Snoop Doggy Dog jumps out of the bushes, Willie Nelson talks about the sixties, Jerry Garcia comes back from the dead like a genie only to smash a drug dealer in the face with his electric guitar, and I wanted to scream, "When did we enter the Twilight Zone!?" I guess it was at the same point that I walked into the theater to watch Half Baked.

    >From 0-10:  4
    Grade:  D

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             Nathaniel R. Atcheson

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