Half Baked (1998) ***

If you don't smoke weed, you might think that the perfect “pot-smoking” movie would be something with lots of trippy, flashing lights and special effects. I've learned over the years, however, that what people who smoke pot really want to see in a movie is … people smoking pot. Just like the best kind of movie to watch if you want to have sex is, well you get the idea. This being the case, Dave Chappelle's 1998 classic “Half Baked” is the perfect stoner movie. If you aren't high, it's still a reasonably fun comedy as long as your expectations are low and you can access your 13-year-old sense of humor.

Chappelle plays Thurgood, a pot-smoking janitor sharing an apartment with his stoner buddies Scarface, Brian, and Kenny. Also, there's a random guy always sleeping on the couch, known simply as “the guy on the couch.” These buds toke up daily, living in a constant state of altered neurotransmitters and low expectations. They seem happy with their lives, until Kenny gets arrested. Nice guys like Kenny don't do well in prison, so the boys try to get themselves together enough to earn bail money for him. Meanwhile, Thurgood meets a ridiculously pretty girl (Rachel True,) who isn't into potheads.

There's never a moment when you believe a second of “Half Baked.” It's nonstop, broad, ridiculous comedy, and, oh yeah, the guys are constantly smoking weed. The only thing that makes it work (if it does) is Dave Chappelle's comedic talent. Besides playing Thurgood with insouciant charm, he plays a hilarious rapper who is reminiscent of some of the characters from “Chappelle's Show.” The Guy on the Couch (Steven Wright) also puts in a bravura performance. It's a low-budget movie, panned by critics, but appealing strongly to a niche audience - all the ingredients for a cult classic. It feels wrong to give such a dumb movie more than one star, but honestly, I enjoyed it, even sober. If you like Dave Chappelle, I think you have to watch “Half Baked.”

3 stars out of 5