MovieChat Forums > Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005) Discussion > terrible. completely misses its potentia...

terrible. completely misses its potential

posted 18 years ago by 21bostoncalifornia
56 replies | jump to latest

I expected this to be a funny movie that would appeal to stoners by making fun of the original 1936 Reefer Madness.

I now realize that the original is already so funny in and of itself. And this is just boring. This movie (or Broadway musical, I'm not sure which came first) did not need to be made.

First let me preface by saying that while musical comedy is probably not a very popular genre with the stoner crowd, I LOVE musical comedies. Although most musicals are straight, some of them are pretty out there, and play well to the stoner crowd - Hair, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Tommy all come to mind. So I can appreciate a good musical. And a good musical this was NOT. The songs are just plain bad. The music is pure elevator music. Its canned, forced, boring. There's not one catchy hook or melody.

I feel so bad for Alan Cumming, who I adored in Cabaret. This has to be a career low for him.

Now, as far as the stoner culture comedy goes, there is none.
This movie wants to be "in" on the whole joke, but its not. It thinks it's parodying the rigid, stalwart opposition to marijuana in the 30s by showing how over the top Alan Cumming's character was. But in reality, no one was ever that ridiculously against marijuana. That's why this doesn't work at all. This would have been funnier if it was more realistic.

The original Reefer Madness is funny today because when it was made the filmmakers were serious. But we know that the filmmakers of today's Reefer Madness were not serious, so it doesn't work.

Furthermore, the movie focuses far too much on the straight story. We honestly couldn't care less. THere is far too much going on in the plot. Too many characters. Too much character development. No one cares.

All I can say is what a terrible waste of an idea. They obviously put a lot of effort into this, with the choreography and costumes and all. But it was so apparent that it was all a second-rate effort at best. The music, the lyrics, the choreography, the dialogue, the costumes, the set design - it was all Grade B or worse.

[–] thecritic-5 18 years ago

whoa whoa whoa... now i think you're getting way out of line here. these people worked hard on this, and a lot of people really enjoyed it. take your negative opinions else where

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] ghartzel 18 years ago

ha ha

you're free to disagree with me, or defend the movie by responding to my specific criticisms
but to say "take your negative opinions elsewhere" is just funny.

my negative opinions belong right here next to your positive opinions.
that's what imdb is all about. thats what the internet is all about. its called "free speech". get used to it. ha :)

[–] CassieJo 18 years ago

I think the world for this movie is satire. Not sure. Be straight but exagerate.
Part of the fun comes from the fact that some people may try to use the musical as an update of the original and use it as a "fun" way to tell kids to say no to drugs. (My high school would, I'm sure. They refrenced the Matrix to teach abstinance, for pizza's sake) It's a message film, but the real message isn't really obvious...something like that.

I'm a HippyGoth. Smiley faces with fangs, grey-tone tie-dye, and so on.

[–] dexcollins 18 years ago

Oh my! Do tell us about the Matrix! How did your school manage to use that? LOL that's hilarious.

[–] ThePirateKing 18 years ago

I have to disagree - the original was funny because it was perfectly serious, this one was funny because it featured dancing Jesus. You can't really compare them ;)

It's the little jokes that give me most glee, like "I don't speak Mexican!" or the fact that when [spoilerish] Ana Gasteyer stabs the garden hoe down behind the couch, it STAYS standing up XD[/spoilerish].

[–] eljimmity 18 years ago

I feel that you've missed the point of the movie entirely, Alan Cumming's character was able to scare all the parents into believing that marijuana was something that was going to destroy the "Good old USA", with a combination of scare tactics he achieved his goal. He played on people's religous beliefs. Any one who offered a different opinion on the matter he systematically tore down in front of their peers. Much like anyone who opposed the Iraq war was called unpatriotic and were singled out, and forced to go with the mob. The ending scene where the crowd is having a book burning is reminiscent of a Nazi book burning, people going with the mob which lead to disaster.
Finnaly this isn't Alan Cumming's lowpoint, that has to be Son of the Mask.

[–] ThePirateKing 18 years ago

Hm, I'm going to assume you didn't mean to respond directly to my post but to the original one in the thread, since mine was just about the silly things I enjoyed in the film, and therefore didn't need to go in to the various political satires in it [which I recognised all by myself!] ;)

And I was going to suggest Josie and the Pussycats, but Son of the Mask wins hands down I think ;) Love Alan Cumming, though!

[–] eljimmity 18 years ago

I liked him in Titus with Anthony Hopkins

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] nammage 10 years ago

So you liked this satire but not that satire? Now that's funny.

-Nam

[–] happylittletree 18 years ago

The original was supposed to be serious propoganda, but if you watched the bonus materials they talked about how the actors in the original 30's movie knew they were doing something ridiculous while the producers thought they were making a seriously educational film. so the original has not just bad acting, it's purposely exaggerated overacting, so you can't exactly call it "perfectly serious" because they weren't all on the same page.

parodies like this are tricky though because some people love the kitsch & campiness while others find the overacting annoying, even though it's supposed to be that way

[–] JubJubGalifianakis 18 years ago

I really enjoyed this film! It's a starnge blend of Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, and The Rocky Horror Show. I really, REALLY loved it and think it's highly underrated considering the amazing talent involved.

[–] connorboo2002 18 years ago

Wow,i thought the movie was brilliant.absolutely hands down,brilliance.
it showed that even people youve never heard of before are great singers dancers and actresses,and opens youre mind to the fact that there are more out there.so it definitely isnt a movie that the film critics would say is the movie of the year,but it was a stage production far before it was a movie.
something i think some of you dont get...its not meant to bring down marijuana.
i would say it definitly promotes marijuana use,and its one of the best movies to smoke to by far.

so yeah,guy who started the message,smoke some pot next time you watch this movie,youll change your mind.(and thats being really nice to you)

[–] 21bostoncalifornia 18 years ago

connorboo2002,

fyi, i DID smoke up before I watched this.
i find that smoking pot makes funny movies even funnier and good movies even better, but unfortunately if the movie is bad to begin with, it makes it even worse, because i can totally see through it.

as a fan of both musicals and marijuana humor i really thought i would enjoy this, but it all just seemed so overdone, pointless.

but if other people enjoyed it, good for them. i don't want to be too much of a downer, so i'll stop contributing to this thread now.

[–] anthonyc-7 18 years ago

i love the movie and all but in the long run its not really about . id hadrly say that there is a mmessage in this movie, and your completely wrong about it promoting . Its promoting camp.

[–] Nerdgasm 18 years ago

I didn't read all that, but I understand you didn't like it. I really disagree, me and my friends are like obsessed with it.

[–] Kat-tastic 18 years ago

You are entitled to your opinion, but I was confused, you seem a little contradictory... you didn't like Cummings being over the top because "no one was ever that ridiculously against marijuana", yet admit that the orginial was funny to you because the film makers were serious. True it is exaggerated, I doubt anyone did musical numbers over outlawing marijuana but there were very strong opponents pushing to have it made illegal to protect their business interest. The satire of the film is wrapped up in the closing scenes, I can't recall the exact lines but it is something to the affect of "exploit their fear, the ends will justify the means"... They took something the people valued - their children, and made it seem they were in danger in order to force the people into action... This has happened throughout history be it against drugs, evolution, communism or rock music.

I love this movie just based on the campy fun, Joan of Arc was my favorite character...

I also don't think a Grade B is that bad of a grade so I don't know why your comment was bothering people...

[–] 21bostoncalifornia 18 years ago

okay maybe i was too hard on it.

i guess the bottom line for me was that i just didn't think the music was very good.
the choreography was pretty good, so some of the musical numbers were fun.

but the music itself was just not good, in my opinion. i've seen a lot of musicals, so my standards are pretty high. i

[–] ss420 18 years ago

As both a theatrical engineer and an avid pot-smoker for more than half my life I like to think I can offer an different perspective than what has been offered so far... I really enjoyed this absolutely campy and kitch filled musical. I do agree that some of the musical nubmers were a bit too cliched and i found myself slightly bored at points, but and this is a big but, the rest of the film definetly makes of for the slow points. Kristin Bell is quite cute and rather loveable in the role of Mary Lane, and the younger brother from Wing (i'm too stoned and lazy right now to go look up his *beep* cracks me up as the pot dealing villian. I have a huge amount of respect for the cast and crew in LA that orignially put this play on stage as I'm sure it was a huge undertaking and a rather massive risk to the financial backers. I can understand the people who did'nt appreciate the film, but i say to them, smoke a big blunt and watch it again with the thought in mind that they're not just parodying the 1930's film reefer madness, but every cliched piece of musical theatre that has come before it.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] webmistress-1 18 years ago

I agree with the main post. I was pretty disappointed in Reefer Madness: The Musical, and I ADORE both musical comedy and marijuana satire.

I had planned to see Reefer Madness in NYC for my birthday, but it closed before I had the chance. So I bought the soundtrack a few years ago ... and I only found two songs to be catchy (the Listen To Jesus tunes and the title track). I had hoped that the Showtime rendition would be more compelling than the soundtrack, but alas ...

Reefer Madness isn't half as inspired as other contemporary musicals like Bat Boy, Urinetown, or Avenue Q ... and it can't touch Jerry Springer: The Opera.

I think the main thing Reefer Madness lacks is sincerity. All of the aforementioned productions work because the scripts are sincere, and they demand sincerity from the performers. Reefer Madness comes off as shallow as the propaganda it mocks.

Reefer Madness doesn't challenge its audience at all. Given the topical subject matter, the play might have had more of a soul had it driven home the point that the oft-ridiculous propaganda Reefer Madness mocks still exists today, and has landed millions of people in jail. Reefer Madness handles the impact of propaganda with kid gloves ... it doesn't want to force its audience to think or feel uncomfortable.

If the songs were catchier and the jokes funnier, perhaps the show would have worked despite its lack of heart. But it's all pretty clumsy and pointless in the end.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] umbrella_bow_cody 18 years ago

how can anyone who's even known a pot head think the first reefer madness is disturbing