Chapelle plays Thurgood Jenkins, a part-time janitor and full-time drug addict who shares his apartment with his three friends. They are played by Chapelle’s fellow comedian (and drug addict) Jim Bruer, along with the hilarious Guillermo Diaz and a little out-of-place Harland Williams (Bruer and Diaz have reprised their roles a few times in guest appearances on “Chapelle’s Show”). They also share their apartment with “The Guy on the Couch,” played by Stephen Wright, despite them not knowing where he came from.
When one of the friends accidentally kills ad diabetic police horse by feeding it junk food and is put in prison for “killing a police officer,” the other three decide to start selling weed to get his bail cash, before he gets assaulted by some six-foot tall muscular inmate. The only problem is, they don’t know where to get enough weed to sell – until Jenkins finds them in a lab in a building where he works, one that specializes in government marijuana research and has so much of it laying around.
McKay noted, “Using pilfered requisition forms, they check out obscene amounts of weed and start selling it all over New York.” However, things get complicated when Thurgood meets and attractive (and ironically named) Mary Jane Potman, played by Rachel True, who hates drug addicts and drug dealers because her troublemaker dad was one of them. Obviously, the boys will end up getting into trough with both the cops and a competing drug dealer (and his gang of female ninja adult star types) before everything is done.
Is it silly? Of course. Is it unbelievable and lacking an iota of “real-life” believability? Obviously, it’s made by drug addicts and for drug addicts. (McKay joked, “Chapelle should start his own clothing line – FSBS”). But is it funny? It’s hilarious! (Until the drug starts wearing off, where it’s just amusing). However, the plot is related, since the whole things is just one big, long running drug in-joke (although non-drug addicts might find some enjoyment here). McKay mentioned, “The writing schizophrenically vacillates between clever and borderline-retarded, but when all is said and done it's quite possibly one of the best stoner comedies ever made, easily on par with the works of Cheech and Chong.” It also gets a nice jolt from some amusing celebrity cameos, which include Jon Stewart (former host of "The Daily Show" who is now hosting "The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV+, and one of my favorite comedians), Janine Garafalo, Willie Nelson, and of course, rapper Snoop Dogg. However, the real kicker? The late Bob Saget, talking about how he used to do some inappropriate stuff for coke. McKay noted, “Not only is it one of the funniest lines in the movie, but it almost makes me recant every nasty thing I ever said about him and his bland and watered down approach to humor on that inane "Most unfunny, annoying, and poorly-staged Home Videos" series.”
The enjoyment of this movie is like what drug addicts do to get high. You either get it, or you don’t. Sure, it gets a little played out at the end, even with a short 82-minute running time (which is about when the weed starts to wear off, ironically). However, Chapelle’s comedic leading man personality, a mostly solid supporting cast, and so many humorous bong jokes, make “Half Baked” a drug addict’s movie collection essential.
This movie is hilarious. I know that when it came out, critics didn’t like it, even Chapelle himself said that the movie didn’t come out the way he wanted it to. He said that it was a weed movie for kids, but in the end, I thought it was a funny. And this is coming from someone who has never done any sort of drugs whatsoever. I don’t really think you need to be a drug addict to like the movie. Just if you’re a Chapelle fan, you should like this just fine. Check it out and see for yourself.
Thank you for joining in today, stay tuned next Monday for my “Valentine’s Day Review.”
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