Mac & Devin Go to High School Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Mac & Devin Go to High School Blu-ray Movie Review

So what we get drunk, so what we smoke weed, we're just having fun on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 24, 2012

How are you going to watch a moth#&%&(in weed movie without moth#&%&(in weed?

It's not difficult to pinpoint Mac & Devin Go to High School's plot points, but the reason behind it all remains somewhat nebulous. But then again asking for anything more than a loose story, some catchy beats, and a whole lot of drug usage out of a movie featuring a crudely animated digital joint might be asking too much. Rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa collaborate on this motion picture about high school, with emphasis on the former and the latter, with "high" fairly self-explanatory but school as in schooling as in a mostly closed-off teacher's pet sort of young man learns the ways of the world from a fifteenth-year senior who's all about getting high and getting some. To delve further into the plot would, well, that pretty much is the plot, so...

Getting high...again.

So, to recap, after the loooong scroll down from the first paragraph, past the first screenshot (no, not screenpot!), and to this portion of the review, the plot: Devin (Wiz Khalifa) is approaching graduation. He's currently first in his class, and his girlfriend Ashley (Teni Panosian) has the couple's future all planned out: they'll go to Yale together, hang their matching diplomas on the wall, and live the perfect white picket fence life together. But is that really living? Mac (Snoop Dogg) has been in high school since the Clinton administration. He's not only he old man on campus, but he's the big man on campus, with a nose for weed and the school's go-to peddler for the finest cannabis. Enter Miss Huck (Teairra Mari), the chesty AP Chemistry substitute teacher who catches Mac's eye the moment he spots her in a dress that's way too revealing for high school. She promises to date him, so long as he graduates. She pairs him up with Devin on a critical chemistry project. Pass, and Devin makes the grade and Mac gets the girl. Fail, and, well, Devin's life will be over and Mac will have to repeat senior year yet again. So, what happens when the preppy and the druggie get together? Under Mac's tutelage, Devin learns the ways of the world: the pleasures of music, the soothing effects of drugs, the coolness of tattoos, and the wonders of the female form. Can Mac and Devin pass their project while on weed?

It's a shame there's not any more to Mac & Devin Go to High School, because Snoop Dogg has an effortless screen presence about him, probably because he seems to play himself in the movie, portraying the exact same person on camera as he is off. There's an undeniable coolness to the man, but his part -- and the movie, really -- is just so limited that his persona seems not necessarily wasted, but sort of underutilized. Snoop's performance as a "mentor" of sorts for young Devin allows the actor to carry through a rhythm of highs and honeys, where he's either puffing the joint or eyeing the babe. The movie lacks realism and authenticity, but even if it lacks a definitive, identifiable point, "realism" and "authenticity" are definitely not candidates for it. It's a breezy and fast (Mac & Devin Go to High School runs just over an hour) little picture (and with a killer soundtrack -- now available from Atlantic Records) that might work better if the audience is on some mind-altering and reality-reshaping substance, but it doesn't appear that it will go down in the books as one of the all-time classic drug movies.

What's more peculiar, Mac & Devin Go to High School goes to the trouble of establishing a few characters, only to become a movie that simply transitions from one high to the next, where Devin first tries drugs, comes to love drugs, smokes at parties with Mac (and sticks a joint in a girl's rear end, resulting in a farty smoke cloud lingering in the room), covers his body in tattoos, loses his virginity, messes up with his girl, and must still attempt to graduate as valedictorian -- not to mention create a winning science project -- in the midst of his transformation. Is the movie trying to promote weed? Is it saying that better things happen on weed than off? Is it saying that, hey, Devin was a great student before, and the weed allowed him to remain a great student but now a student with open eyes and a fuller appreciation for the world around him, the world that cannot be learned through books but rather by living the "high" life? What to make of Mac? Is a fifteenth-year senior really a role model? OK, OK. There's no real point in trying to read anything into the movie. This is one of those "love it or hate it" types, and one's reaction is probably directly related to the amount of foreign substances present in the body during a watch, and the movie says as much right off the bat. With that in mind, best to just skip to the Blu-ray technical presentation.

Mac & Devin Go to High School Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mac & Devin Go to High School features a bright and well defined 1080p transfer. The movie was shot digitally, and it sports that somewhat flat, lifeless, glossy sort of sterile appearance. Fine detail impresses, however, particularly in close-ups where skin textures, varsity jackets, and the like are revealed with pinpoint accuracy and realism. Colors are even, generally, whether the school greens and yellows, Miss Huck's bright pink cleavage-pushing dress, or Devin's blue dress shirt. The image is sharp as a tack, usually, save for some softer edges around a few frames. Light shimmering may be seen on a few school lockers, but there are otherwise no major eyesores to report. This transfer isn't brilliant or blindingly excellent, but it's a solid all-around picture that suits the movie well.

Mac & Devin Go to High School Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mac & Devin Go to High School's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers the goods with, generally, a fine presence. There are moments when dialogue seems a little shallow and lost under even music playing at a reduced level, but generally the spoken word plays intelligibly and evenly from the center channel. Music enjoys good, rich clarity and the tunes are supported by a quality low end. It is a bit front-heavy, surprisingly, with the surround use a little more limited than listeners might expect. School atmospherics remain mostly around the front, too, with the din of busy hallways and such never reaching around and totally enveloping the listening audience. Still, this is a satisfying presentation that hits most of the musical notes with the precision fans expect.

Mac & Devin Go to High School Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mac & Devin Go to High School contains only an audio commentary track with Director Dylan Brown, Executive Producer/Actor Snoop Dogg, and Actor Wiz Khalifa.

Mac & Devin Go to High School Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's a struggle to review a movie that's pretty much about nothing. Mac & Devin Go to High School is pretty much about nothing. Good kid gets mixed up in drugs, and there's a lot of highs and girls along the way. Can he still graduate valedictorian if he's shed his old persona for a new one? Can the squeaky-clean brainiac still make the grade while living like a Rap star? That's the story, but there's no substance to it. Maybe it does watch better while on something, but the fact of the matter is that watching it straight is pretty much a lost cause and a waste of an hour of one's life, and kudos to the movie for being up-front about that from the very beginning. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Mac & Devin Go to High School features acceptable video and audio. The only supplement is a commentary track. Rent it.