How High is a 2001 American stoner comedy film directed by Jesse Dylan in his feature directorial debut and written by Dustin Lee Abraham. The film stars Method Man and Redman as two cannabis users who gain admission to Harvard University with the supernatural help of a deceased friend whose ashes were used to fertilize a marijuana plant. Obba Babatundé, Mike Epps, Jeffrey Jones, and Fred Willard also appear in supporting roles.
Produced by Jersey Films and Native Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures, How High was released on December 21, 2001. The film received generally negative reviews from critics,
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, How High has an approval rating of 25% based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "How High is a sloppily constructed stoner movie filled with lame, vulgar jokes." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 29 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.
Mike Clark of USA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four. He concluded that it did not have enough material "to sustain its 91 minutes" but did have enough "low-grade laughs" for its target audience. Ellen Kim of Seattle Post-Intelligencer said, "Unfortunately, this low-lowbrow comedy, which tries to pass itself off as a Friday crossed with Legally Blonde, also does nothing to distinguish itself from recent urban flops The Wash and Pootie Tang."
Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Graham noted that "It looks like a movie somebody hallucinated and put up on the screen". He praised some humorous scenes such as the exhumation of John Quincy Adams, but criticized an abrupt ending.
Entertainment Weekly rated it third in their "Best Stoner Movie" top ten list. It also won the Stony Award for Best Stoner Movie in 2002.
Home media
How High was released on DVD and VHS on May 21, 2002.
Soundtrack
Sequel
In May 2002, a television sequel to How High was reported as being written by Don D. Scott (the co-writer of Barbershop), with Method Man and Redman reprising their roles.
In October 2008, Redman revealed that a script for the sequel was still in the middle of being written, stating that "we wanna represent all the smokers", believing that since How High, no one has done justice on a stoner film. In April 2009, it was reported that Redman blamed Universal Pictures for the film's delay, stating: "They're not opening that money door for us to shoot it. We promoted the shit out of that movie. We got the whole world waiting for a How High 2."
In December 2010, Redman confirmed that Universal Pictures was indeed holding the rights to How High, so the chances of How High 2 coming out were slim. In April 2013, Method Man told TMZ that the script was being written by Dustin Lee Abraham, who wrote the first one, but it all would depend on Universal if the film would happen. In November 2015, Redman stated How High 2 would be released in 2017.
In 2017, there was a written script, confirmed by Matt "M-80" Markoff. Redman stated that the script was being rewritten, and he expected production to begin late 2017, early 2018; he also stated he and Method Man could move on to something other than the sequel. The two men confirmed they would not reprise their roles in the sequel because "the business wasn't right".
The sequel was greenlit by MTV and Universal 1440 Entertainment in June 2018. The film takes place in Atlanta and production began September 25, 2018, starring Lil' Yachty and D.C. Young Fly. MTV announced How High 2 would premiere on April 20, 2019, with Mike Epps reprising his role as Baby Powder.