The euphoria, high, or hallucinations that a good joint can provoke are more than enough material for any savvy screenwriter to pull off the script of a hit movie. And it is that everything looks and feels very different when there is cannabis involved, even if it is in the fiction of a movie story.
Sometimes marijuana just appears sideways, just like a glass of whiskey or a plate of paella might appear. That is, only as an element that in some way serves to enrich the scene or to provide us with some information about the character’s tastes or about the environment in which he moves.
But there are other films in which cannabis has a leading role and the plot revolves around its cultivation, its consumption and of course its effects. That is the type of movies that we bring you today in this post. Somewhat crazy arguments for an afternoon at the movies that you will surely enjoy much more with the flavor and aromas of your favorite herb.
Top 5 movies about stoners
1. Pineapple Express (Super smoked)
Aside from being an atmospheric phenomenon and a real marijuana strain, Pineapple Express is the name of a 2003 film directed by David Gordon Green (The kangaroo, Knights, princesses and other beasts) and translated in Spain under the name of Super smoked.
The film, as its translated title indicates, is one of those stoner comedies in which you can expect practically anything. Perhaps the most outstanding thing is that it stars James Franco who, not in vain, was nominated for the Golden Globes for his interpretation of Saúl, a camel who inadvertently will be involved in a story of murders, drug trafficking , chases and situations comical and absurd enough so that the 111 minutes of film will fly by. Light, pleasant and evocative like a hit of Pineapple Express.
2. Half Baked (Half freaked out)
What if for an absurd mistake your best colleague was thrown in jail? This group of friends is not willing to let this happen and when one of them enters he is sentenced to prison for the death of a policeman’s horse to whom he gave junk food being diabetic, the remaining three friends think of a plan to get him out of jail asap.
The main complication is that they are not exactly a very savvy group and they spend most of their time smoking, which makes it quite difficult for the rescue plan to progress as planned. Taking into account that the plan is to sell the marijuana that they keep in the pharmaceutical laboratory where one of them works, you can already imagine where the shots of this comedy go directed by Tamra Davis, who apart from numerous films has recently participated in the direction of an episode of another rather peculiar project: Santa Clarita Diet.
3. Trilogy of Cheech and Chong
A list of movies about stoners would be incomplete if we did not talk about the comedies that inspired this entire film genre. At the end of the 1970s the comedy duo of Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong leapt from the club stages and recording studios of Los Angeles to the big screen with a series of comedy films whose central theme it always revolved around the use of marijuana.
Although in ’78 and ’85 they were making movies, the three key films of their success were the first three of their career as actors and screenwriters:
- How smoke goes (Up in Smoke) (1978)
- How you float man (Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie) (1980)
- We sell chocolate (Nice Dreams) (1981)
Three essential classics for marijuana lovers and fans of the cinema of this genre.
4. The big Lebowski (The big lebowski)
You are very wrong if you think that all stoner movies are comedies without too much background. When the Coen brothers wrote the screenplay for The big lebowski not only a rather complex character but a very unique narration of his history were raised.
However, Lebowski, known in the Spanish translation as ‘El Nota’, is still a championship stoner, with surreal dreams and a very peculiar personality that will end up convincing you that he is a true modern hero. Not in vain the film deals with a commendable mission: to locate a kidnapped woman, the wife of a millionaire tycoon with whom the Big Lebowski only shares a last name.
5. Friday (All on a friday)
A list of movies about marijuana could not be missing one that starred rappers. Friday, which was translated into Spanish as All on a friday is a 1995 comedy directed by F. Gary Gray, who has already been in command of other balls cinematographic like Deal maker, The Italian Job and more recently Fast & Furious 8.
More than twenty years ago it is seen that Gray had one of those silly afternoons and he decided to make this film starring Chris Tucker (Smokey) and Ice Cube (Craig) that in his own opinion New York Times it is a vision of the influence of life on the street in popular culture. A somewhat deep digression for what the film really presents: two friends who, after starting a Friday on the wrong foot, decide to spend the rest of the day smoking weed despite the fact that this is going to get them into some money problems.
The film, which has its grace although it is quite simple, was so successful that it had two sequels whose titles and plots were no longer as original as the first installment: Next Friday Y Friday after next.
