I'll Take the High Road

The 2012 comedy film, High Road, follows a guy named Glen, played by James Pumphery, a former rocker playing a pot dealer. When a deal goes bad, he has to go on the run with a teenager named Jimmy Malone, played by Dylan O'Brien. While this may seem like a simple plot, there actually is a lot more going on but that would involve spoiling parts of the movie. There are two things that stand out in this movie's writing which allow it to stand out from other comedies that use marijuana as a plot device. One is how it portrays people who smoke pot; they aren't the typical stereotypes that act like exaggerated hippies that talk about nothing but pot. Because of this, the film doesn't feel stock and the viewer is able to laugh at the genuine comedy found within the film, such as in the grocery store scene near the beginning.

The other thing about the film is that it market's itself as being "totality improvised", while there are doubts about this, the film does give off the feel of being improvised most of the time. While, as stated before, this gives the viewer genuine comedy there are also points were jokes drag on while the actors try to improvise with lines. Some of the noticeable improv actors in this by far are Ed helms, who plays Barry, and Zach Woods, who plays Tommy, although this isn't a surprise knowing both of these guys act in "The Office". Besides them, everyone else does a pretty good job at improvising especially James Pumphery who makes every word sound natural.

An example of the good improv work is with Officer Fogerty, played by Joe Lo Truglio, and Rob Riggle, who plays James Malone Sr. The two are trying to track down Glen because they believe that he kidnapped Jimmy, the problem being that Fogerty is trying to be an officer when he really runs the gym at the station. While Officer Fogerty tries to go a little too far for a laugh, these two naturally bounce off each other which got most of the laughs.  

That being said about the film, the independent quality of the film rears its head in how the camera moves and how the film is edited. While it is normal that the camera work isn't Hollywood quality, the camera moves around too much and it takes the viewer out of the experience of watching. The independent film problem is choppy editing which occurred during car rides, some talking scenes, and fight scenes. Because of how the car scenes are edited, it feels a little bit like padding to extend the running time, which is surprising seeing at the film is less than ninety minutes.

Overall, this is was an entertaining movie to watch, not ground breaking but interesting enough to hold one's interest. While some of the movie drags and it can feel longer than it needs to be, the cast makes up for it by not relying of cheap stereotypes for laughs. For his first time, James Pumphrey carries the role nicely and has a charm to him. This is a film to watch if the viewer is looking for something new and interesting compared to what other studios do.