Directed by: John Stalberg, Jr.
Starring: Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Colin Hanks, Matt Bush, Sean Marquette
MPAA Rating: R
Distributed by: Anchor Bay
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Running Time: 99 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2 out of 5 stars
As I get further and further away from high school personally. I tend to find high school films less and less amusing. This film lucky point is its impressive cast. Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Colin Hanks all really steal the show in this film. “HIGH School” was on the shelf for a few years prior to getting released, so you know that there had to be a reason for it. If you are looking for a few brainless laughs and nothing much, this is worth at least one watch.
The day after valedictorian Henry Burke (Matt Bush) decides to try smoking weed for the first time his school principal (Michael Chiklis) institutes mandatory drug tests for all students. If Henry fails, he will lose his college scholarship. His other option is to team up with stoner friend Breaux (Sean Marquette) in order to try and beat the system. What is their master plan…try and steal a psycho drug dealer’s stash to get the whole school high. What can go wrong?
This film looks sharp on Blu-ray but nothing special. The 1080p transfer looks sharp and delivers a crisp presentation within its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The audio also packs a strong Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and works well with the film’s music. The special features are lacking a bit though. There is an audio commentary track with executive producer/writer/director John Stalberg, Jr., worth really checking out only if you REALLY liked this movie. Lastly there is a few never-before-seen deleted scenes, which are definitely worth checking out. I could think of a few things they could have cut in place of these.
