Super High Me
So I'd never seen any of Doug Benson before and I'm really not a pot person, but some co-workers were going to see Super High Me at SXSW this year and it looked fun so I tagged along.
I really liked it... basic premise: Doug Benson, comedian, off pot and alcohol for 30 days, on for 30 days. Hilarity on tour and at home ensues. There are a bunch of pop-up video style graphics visually depicting Doug's progress that I thought were going to get really old but never really bothered me. And I've never been able to sit though those DVD of live concerts and I was worried Super High Me would be a standup comedian version of those, but no worries there. The pot experiment was well blended with the actual gigs he had during the 60 days.
I wish there had been more of the tests - medical, psychological, etc. for the 30 days on pot. A lot of time is devoted to the tests while he's not on pot, but then the results for while he's on pot are just kind of hurriedly tossed on screen.
The examining of "the hotly contested debate over medical marijuana use" is woven in by introducing Doug to the dispensaries in California and then kind of tracking the controversy with the legalization of medical marijuana. Which is interesting and should be included in this film, but maybe there should be a little less about the dispensaries and more Doug or more dispensaries perhaps in a completely separate film. The balance felt a little off.
All in all, though, really great way to start off SXSW.