'HOW HIGH' MAKES YOU SURE WHY THEY CALL IT 'DOPE'

The marijuana comedy is back. Oh, the fashions might be hip-hop baggy
instead of beads and bell bottoms, but "How High" is a direct descendant of
such Cheech & Chong flicks as "Up In Smoke" and "Nice Dreams" - with a
splash of "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Animal House" thrown in for good measure.

"How High," though, makes those earlier films seem positively sophisticated.

Rappers Redman and Method Man star as Jamal and Silas, a couple of guys
from the 'hood who stumble across some magical weed that allows them to ace
their college placement exams and land scholarships to Harvard.

Silas is a natural botanist who has a marijuana garden growing in his
apartment.

He fertilizes one of his plants with the ashy remains of a friend who died
in a fiery accident; when the weed is smoked, it conjures up the spirit of
the dear departed, who has a direct pipeline into all the knowledge of the
universe. Sort of like the ultimate lifeline on "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire."

As long as their stash holds out, Silas and Jamal can't fail. This leaves
plenty of time for chasing women, getting high and shaking up square Ivy
League minds.

Cheech and Chong invariably played characters made stupid by dope; Jamal
and Silas, on the other hand, are depicted as very cool specimens who bring
the joys of urban awareness to the uptight college crowd.

Their adversaries include a snotty rich kid and an administrator depicted
as a supercilious Uncle Tom. ("How charmingly ghetto," he sneers at our
heroes.)

Most of the jokes in Dustin Lee Abraham and Brad Kaaya's screenplay are of
the fast-talking, expletive-laced-insult variety. Either you find this
stuff funny or you don't. I don't.

Some well-known faces wander through the film: Hector Elizondo as a scull
coach who gets turned on by Jamal's dope; Fred Willard as a stuffy
administrator; Jeffrey Jones as a big-shot politician; and most memorably,
Spalding Gray as a black studies teacher who tries - badly - to imitate
hip-hop speech.

"How High" marks the feature debut of director Jesse Dylan, whose resume
includes commercials and music videos. He's also the son of
singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. The best that can be said for his style here
is that it appears to have been quick and cheap. Your average TV show has
better production values.

1½ stars Rated R for language, drug use and brief nudity.