Drew On Movies # 27: Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)

Ah, who doesn't love some good old fashioned propaganda Oh, your not a fan? What if I told you this particular piece is not only a satire, but also a musical, with zombies and Jesus as a lounge singer? Still not sold? How bout if I told you it has Kristen Bell dressed as a dominatrix during one of those musical numbers?

Ya, thought that'd peak your interest. Hell that's how I found out about the film.

Okay, a little backstory here. In 1936, an propaganda film was made for parents to teach them of the dangers of marijuana use. However after it was made, producer Dwain Esper bought it, edited it, and turned it into an exploitation film. Apparently this new version has quite the cult following, and while I have not watched it, the few clips I've seen have been pretty funny, but also very much what one would expect from an old black and white educational style film.

Fast forward about sixty-two years and we find the film brought to life again in a new venue- an Off Broadway musical poking fun at not just the original film, but the era in which it was made, or at least how we perceive that era- one of paranoia, fears of Communism, small towns full of good Christian folk who are afraid of anything new and different. Kinda like Footloose, only in black and white.

Jump ahead seven more years and that same show is put in front of the camera and turned into a full fledged movie musical, albeit one made for television but involving a good amount of the shows original cast. Now as stated, I learned of this film when a picture of the lovely Kristen Bell dressed as a dominatrix popped up on one of my film sites, and after ogling it for a bit, I decided to dig a little into the movie the image came from.

Looked interesting, but it languished at the bottom of my ever growing movie list for quite some time.
However, a month or so back, it jumped up the list, yet again thanks to ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, specifically, the web series Music Movies hosted by self-proclaimed music guru Paul 'Paw' Dugan. The review for Reefer Madness was pretty good, and gave me more then enough incentive to track down a copy of the film. Does it live up to the high it promises, or is it a major downer? Let's find out.

Plot

We begin at a meeting for parents at a local high school in 1936. The meeting is presented by a Government Lecturer, played by the always entertaining Alan Cumming. The Lecturer has gathered the parents to tell them of the evils of marijuana, calling it the real public enemy number one, and a major threat to their beloved children. This is hammered in by the film's first musical number, and my personal favorite, Reefer Madness. The song is quite mad, looking like something out of one of the Living Dead movies, with zombified teens attacking their parents while the Lecturer riles them up against the evil weed. The song over, he begins to tell them a tragic tale of young lives ruined by the plant. However this is not the last we see of the meeting or The Lecturer; the former scene returns sporadically, and really plays up the fear angle, as parents who speak against the over the top things told about marijuana are manipulated into accepting things through fear, such as one parent who happens to have a Russian (actually Polish) last name being called a Communist for claiming that weed is not that dangerous. As for the Lecturer himself, he cameos various times throughout the story, in roles as varying as a crossing guard, a bass player, and FDR. The story itself concerns fine upstanding youths Jimmy Harper, played by Christian Campbell, and Mary Lane, played by Kristen Bell. The two are as sweet and happy as one expects from this sort of nostalgia set up- Hell, they use the word keen, if that isn't something one affiliates with the white picket fence good old days of America I don't know what is. The two are pretty dumb, but that's to be expected and is played for laughs- the two compare their love for one another to Romeo and Juliet in song, though neither has finished the play, leading to a great fantasy moment where they sing about how they believe the couple live happily ever after, whilst Shakespeare, in the role of a priest at their fantasy wedding, shakes his head  to no avail. We then meet our villainous characters, weed pusher Jack Stone, played by Steven Weber, along with his cronies, a whore named Sally, played by Amy Spanger, who actually sells her newborn for drug money, cliched stoner Ralph, played by John Kassir, and Jack's moll, Mae, played by Ana Gasteyer. Mae is a tragic figure, who wants to leave Jack and the live she's living but can't due to her addiction. The two groups come together when Jack meets Jimmy at the local soda counter and persuades him to come with him to learn to be cool so that Jimmy can impress Mary. As expected, after one puff of reefer- and a crazy orgy fantasy sequence, Jimmy is hooked and forgets all about his old life. While breaking into a church to steal money for more weed, Jimmy has a dream sequence of sorts in which Jesus, played by Robert Torti, comes down off the cross and in a musical revue, tries to convince Jimmy to kick the drugs, which Jimmy refuses. From there it's all a downward spiral involving sex, drugs, murder, an animated sequence involving making love to a pot brownie, and a whole lot more music.

Thoughts

This film is pretty damn cheesy, and while I like such movies, this one is a special kind of cheese. The songs are decent, with one or two stand outs and quite a few that can be passed over. It works as a musical I admit, but some of the songs could be tightened just a little or just removed. The characters, being over-exaggerated due to the plot, are entertaining for what they are- we aren't here to really care for any of them, we are here to shake are heads at the absurdity of it all and laugh at the craziness. The reason this works well is due to the bookending segments of the film, that is, the meeting with the parents and the Lecturer's ability to exploit their fear to get them to believe him. The idea of the easily led simple folk of the 30s is nothing new, and with that in mind we can watch this and enjoy it, because there was a time when this was very much the truth- people were afraid of things they did not understand and the Government did play on those fears to manipulate and exploit the people. Hell, they still do that, but it's a bit easier to point out now due to the internet- in the 30s, you pretty much believed what the Government told you and that was that. So a film where a slick, intelligent man working for the American Government convinces some townsfolk that marijuana is more addictive then heroin and can turn even the most perfect children into sociopaths with only one puff is believable only because of the era it is taking place. If the film were modernized it would not work- it's kind of why the Footloose remake didn't make much sense- in the 80s, the idea of a small town banning music and dancing was semi-plausible, but in the era of Twitter and Facebook, such a ban would last a few days max before people throughout the rest of the world would be mocking the town's actions.

Enough of that, let's get to the film as a whole, what works and what doesn't. As I said, the songs are hit and miss, and the characters are pretty much cut-outs, but that doesn't mean they aren't good in those roles. Alan Cumming is awesome not just as the The Lecturer but also in his cameos in the main story- you are never sure where he is going to pop up and what he is going to say, and trust me, some of the things be says about the drug in question are so laughable you could actually believe that there was a time when people believed it. The rest of the cast are again hit or miss- Kristen Bell is sickly sweet as the lead female, but really, it's worth the price of admission to see her all sexed up during the song Mary Sunshine. Steven Weber is decent as the drug pusher, and really looks and acts the part of the suave old school gangster type with the fast talk and the nice suit. Christian Campbell's Jimmy is just kind of there, sure he is the character we are supposed to follow but he is really bland, which, given the time frame, is to be expected I guess. Honestly, I didn't care much for him and just sort of mocked him throughout the film, but maybe that's just me. Ana Gasteyer is good as Mae, seeing as she is very much the sensible one in the mix even with her dependency on Jack and his dope. She is the one person who realizes how bad things are getting and in the end actually does something about it. John Kassir's Ralph is the annoying comic relief but for the most part is at least funny, though he has some moments that are grating.

Where the film succeeds the most is in it's satire of the era, and the paranoia therein. Not only does the Lecturer play off the fear of drugs and Communism, but Asians, African-Americans, and other minorities. No one is safe and everyone is a target for the good, white Christian American gaze. This was a time when all of the above were things people feared, and to look at it now it's quite shocking, and that's what makes it all work. The film takes the already existing ideals of the time and turns them up to eleven, making something as simple as a joint into something on par with the atomic bomb in the fearful eyes of the American people. As the Lecturer states at the films end, "When danger's near, exploit their fear"- this is the best summary of the time and the film- it was an era of exploitation, both in film and of the populace, and a film in which the exploitation of fear is the root of everything.

Conclusion

As I said, the film was made for television and based on an Off-Broadway play, so it doesn't have the best production values, acting or songs, but for the most part those it has in all three areas are decent. It's cheesy as all Hell but it takes place it a fantastical version of the early 30s so that is to be expected. The film is far from perfect but it's a fun way to kill ninety minutes, especially is you are in the mood for a little satire with not much else under the hood. If you enjoy musicals it might be worth checking out for the songs that are decent, or even just to hear the opening song. And of course, if you want to see Ms. Bell in tight leather, it's worth finding at least for that scene. All in all, a decent little flick that while not setting the world on fire, isn't a burning bag of dogshit either.

3 Cartoon Pot Brownies out of 5

That's all out of me. Until next time, I'm The Drew, and I Be Awesome.

And for those that want to check out Paw's Music Movie review: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/paw/music-movies/34459-music-movies-reefer-madness