“Half Baked”
As is the case with most of these films, critics didn’t love “Half Baked” at the time of its release (29% on Rotten Tomatoes). Over time, audiences appreciated the film more, latching onto the film’s satiric poking at stoner culture. The film centers on Thurgood Jenkins (Dave Chappelle) and his friends (Jim Breuer and Guillermo Diaz) needing to sell marijuana to raise enough money to get their friend out of jail (Harland Williams). Memorable scenes include Thurgood’s descriptions of the different types of smokers (featuring cameos by Jon Stewart, Snoop Dog, and Bob Saget) and Chappelle’s duel role as Sir Smoke-a-lot. Check out this film and, just like Thurgood Jenkins, fall in love with Mary Jane all over again.
“Friday”
“I know ya don’t smoke weed, I know this. But I’m gonna get you high today cause it’s Friday, you ain’t got no job, and you ain’t got shit to do.” This quote from Smokey (a never better Chris Tucker) to Craig (Ice Cube) sums up the beauty of the movie “Friday.” It plays out with two friends spending a day together, making jokes, and reacting to the state of their neighborhood. Unfortunately, Tucker only appeared in the first film of the “Friday Trilogy,” leaving the sequels unable to come close to the quality of the first. This 4/20, which happens to be on a Friday, be sure to heed Smokey’s advice: “Weed is from the earth. God put this here for me and you. Take advantage man, take advantage.”
“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”
Take the premise of having the munchies, add in the “Milf” guy from “American Pie” (John Cho) and Ryan Reynold’s assistant from “Van Wilder” (Kal Penn), and you’re left with one of the funniest movies of the 2000s. In the trilogy opener, Harold (Cho) needs to get work done before the next morning when he decides to smoke out with his friend Kumar (Penn), thus creating one of the best product placements in the history of film when they crave the succulent burgers from White Castle. Obviously, shenanigans ensue on their way to get food, including Neil Patrick Harris playing a womanizing version of himself, the boys riding a cheetah through the woods, and a montage featuring a life-size anthropomorphic bag of weed. Maintaining its level of hilarity while still magnifying issues of racial prejudice in this country, “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” is not only an entertaining comedy but also a great film period.
“Dazed & Confused”
After making the loose vignette film “Slacker,” Richard Linklater decided to expand on some of the same themes with a stronger storyline in his next feature, “Dazed and Confused.” On the last day of high school in 1978, upcoming Seniors and the incoming Freshmen prepare for the annual hazing of the Freshmen. At the center of the film is Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London), who has to decide if he’ll sign a pledge promising not to take drugs during the summer in order to be eligible to play football. While the film is one of the best 4/20 movies of all time, featuring two of the greatest stoners in cinema in Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey’s first film role) and Slater (Rory Cochrane), it has larger aspirations on its agenda. It deals with the uncertainty of the impressionable years in your life, the conflict between your beliefs and authority, and human connections in general. So turn on some Foghat and as Wooderson would say, “You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.”