Rating: 8.5/10

Writers: John Stalberg Jr., Erik Linthorst, Stephen Susco
Director: John Stalberg Jr.
Cast: Matt Bush, Sean Marquette, Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Colin Hanks

HIGH SCHOOL tells the tale of straight-A, straight-laced student Henry Burke (ADVENTURELAND’s Matt Bush). He’s a good kid yet, on one fateful day, Henry makes one wrong move as he reconnects and reminisces with childhood-friend-turned-burn-out-pothead Travis Breaux (Sean Marquette) over a fatty joint. Bad timing for Henry to take up smoking the reefer, as the school’s gestapo, Principal Leslie Gordon (Michael Chiklis), along with the help of Vice PrincipalBrandon Ellis (Colin Hanks), enacts a plan to drug test the entire student body, expelling anyone who fails in hopes to reimage the school after an incident involving a spelling bee and a blazed student. In short, everything is “Phuc-ed.”

With his chances of valedictorian and a future at M.I. T. on the line, Henry and Travis grow a far-out plan. They will get the entire high school high.

But where will they get all that Mary Jane? Why, a drug dealer, of course! But this is no ordinary drug dealer. After all, they don’t call him Psycho Ed (Adrien Brody) for being…not psycho. Ed, a former law student and viable genius of sorts, has invented a special strain of crystallized THC marijuana. A perfect little sweetener to any dish.

The dynamic duo steal the drug, baking it into brownies for a fundraising bake sale, which are distributed throughout the entire school, faculty and all. As you can imagine, it’s a literal high school. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Again, they don’t call him Psycho Ed for nothing, as the boys soon find out as he tracks them down and “cordially” asks them to pay the net worth back (something to the tune of $50,000). That’s not all though, as a series of unfortunate events unfold, putting the young men in a worse off situation than they were when they started down this tale of toking.

HIGH SCHOOL is as straight-forward and enjoyable as a teen coming-of-age stoner comedy can be (whether you’re baked or not while watching it). But, do not misunderstand, there’s a heartbeat here where others of the genre rarely have a pulse. First-time writer/director John Stalberg evokes a keen Hughesian sense of FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF with a healthy dose of RISKY BUSINESS, as well as a few other great comedies with hearts of the 80s. Stalberg presents real kids with real problems, acting within a higher-than-life situation. And while the situation they’re in may be out there, it harkens back to the trouble that everyone got themselves into at least once in their formative years. The script gets to the heart of that feeling, when you yourself were a kid, operating in a world that never went beyond those large glass doors leading to the hell you knew as 9th through 12th grade. It was a time where every problem, no matter how laughable and insignificant now, was life-altering and possibly life-ending at the time. After all, it was the only world you knew. Who was dating who was your politics. Who hated who was your war. HIGH SCHOOL allows you to reflect on this time, taking you back to that feeling of fear and emotional-heightening, as well as allowing you to laugh at it now that you are much, much “older” and “more mature.”

The film’s main players are oddly chosen but seemingly fitting in every way. Both Brody and Chiklis sound out of place at first thought, which is exactly what makes them pitch-perfect in their extreme personalities. As Gordon, Chiklis is Ed Rooney-esque, in his almost thespian take on the school’s tyrant. Similarly, Brody comes across hysterically funny in his portrayal of the drug-dealing, tattoo-covered, corn-rowed gangster with an eye twitch and paranoia for frogs that say “Whut?”

Marquette and Bush give earnest yet humorous performances in their rocky bromance, playing male teens more realistically than others of the bloated, stereotype-filled sub-genre of teen comedies. It’s nice to see characters that reflect who kids really are and how they really act versus ones that reinforce the bullshit we spend years trying to shake during and after high school.

In the end, HIGH SCHOOL has just as many laughs as it does sentiment. It’s an achievement in a genre that is often two-dimensional, both in humor and substance. Not to mention that it totally makes you feel high…on life that is!

Other articles that you might like:

• Sundance 2011 Review: THE ART OF GETTING BY (a.k.a. HOMEWORK)
• Sundance 2011 Review: ANOTHER EARTH
• Sundance 2011 Review: SALVATION BOULEVARD