trying to pin down this flick is a waste of time. "high society: a pot boiler" moves through non sequitur and cliché-on-its-ear absurdism at its own whim. this is both one of its most admirable traits and its achilles heel for some viewers. good because, much like the hazy cloud that the characters inhabit for the movie's 90 minutes, it is able to shapeshift from stoner references to rapid-fire dialogue to character exposition at a jarring but even keel. not so great at times because most of the movies that bear the inevitable comparisons (this movie has pot smokers and is shot on a camera, therefore it must be compared to every other movie with pot smokers filmed with cameras) cast a mold this doesn't quite fit into.
at times, high society fires evenly on all eight cylinders and is comedically flawless. at others it's not quite everything it could be - that's something that's unreasonable to expect out of a modest budget and a relatively green screenwriter. and even when it's not quite a gel - the promise in the screenwriter's approach is visible.
while all the actors delivered - we'll have to give the W to leading man, Erik for effectively striking a chord between exuberant, comedically overstated zeal and a smart, reigned-in subtlety.
i know this is doing the rounds on a few independent screens and festivals right now - hopefully this gets the distribution that'll give high society a fair crack at sleeper stoner comedy greatness.
