Release Date: 06/17/2008
Label/Distributor: Universal
Rating: R (Restricted)
Retail Price: $24.98
Genre: Documentary Cast: Douglas Benson
Director: Michael Blieden
Running Time: 90
DVD Video Options: Color,Dolby,DVD-Video,Subtitled,Widescreen,NTSC
DVD Audio Options: English;Original Language,English;Subtitled,Spanish;Subtitled
UPC Code: 025195041157
Super High Me
By Buzz McClain -- Video Business, 5/19/2008
SCREEN MEDIA/UNIVERSALStreet: June 17
Prebook: May 20
> Doc asks: This is your brain on drugs … um, what was the question?
Stand-up comic Doug Benson borrows the structure of Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me to explore the world of marijuana. Benson first goes 30 days without smoking any, followed by 30 days of 18-hours-a-day pot indulgence, with medical professionals tracking his health (and his psychic ability). During his fitfully funny trip, Benson uncovers little-known facets of a middle-class pot underworld in America. (Fast fact: California’s medical marijuana laws are not recognized by the Federal government, which accounts for two of the documentary’s more dramatic sequences.) The movie is punctuated with clips from Benson’s stand-up routines, before and after, and conversations with many of his better-known friends, including rocker David Navarro and comedian Bob Odenkirk, among others. In an effort to play down this unabashed celebration of ganja, there’s a choice of box art in a “Conservative Version” (without joints) and a “Risqué Version” (with joints).
Shelf Talk: With some 80 million admitted pot users in the U.S., there’s potentially a sizeable audience that might be interested in learning more about the subject. The title was a hit at the South by Southwest Film Festival and went on to “open” in more than 1,000 well-attended word-of-mouth screenings via the Web site SuperHighMeMovie.com.
Documentary, color, R (language, drug use), 90 min., DVD $24.98Extras: deleted scenes
Director: Michael Blieden
First Run: L, April 2008, <$1 mil.