- Actors: Alexandra Daddario, Josh Brener, Al Sapienza
- Director: Rory Rooney
- Format: Dolby, NTSC, THX, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: Well Go USA
- Release Date: November 29, 2016
- Run Time: 85 minutes
For a film that
is trying as hard as it is to appeal to the hipster crowd, Baked in Brooklyn is remarkably outdated. And even if it weren’t
too late to jump on the overcrowded bandwagon filled with films and TV shows
about marijuana, Baked in Brooklyn
isn’t really about marijuana at all. Even worse, it isn’t very good. While too
disconnected from real life to effectively carry out any of the dramatic
elements, it is an even bigger crime that a film being sold as a stoner comedy
has absolutely no humor.
From the very
start of this film, I smelled bullshit. The protagonist is a neurotic
20-something Jewish kid named David (Josh Brener), who has two longtime friends
as his roommate; one is black while the other is gay. I am all for diversity in
casting, but the pairing of these three sounds like the beginning of a bad
joke. It is about as fittingly on-the-nose as every element of Baked in Brooklyn, almost as if the filmmakers were unfamiliar
with the concept of subtlety as a whole. The entire film is framed through a
reading of the story to a group of captivated listeners in a book store, immediately
giving the impression that crime does indeed pay, while lazily carrying the
narrative forward.
We are forced to
hear David recount his unrealistic story about selling marijuana through the
internet, but first we are required to endure the beginning of a romantic
relationship with a girl completely out of his league. David meets Kate
(Alexandra Daddario) at a party when she approaches him. Despite his
awkwardness and her longtime boyfriend who resembles a Ken doll, Kate ends up
making out with David by the end of their first night meeting. As if this
weren’t already a geek fantasy of major proportions, she inevitably ends up leaving
her boyfriend for him after a brief montage of them being ‘just friends.’
This is before
David even begins selling drugs, which is when the film gets really silly.
Beyond the unbelievable elements of the film, Baked in Brooklyn is a poor excuse for a movie about marijuana,
especially since we don’t really see anyone smoke. The movie is all about
David’s dedication to have a solid work ethic while selling drugs, along with
his own addiction to prescription pills. David doesn’t even smoke marijuana,
and the film seems to have very little interest in the drug beyond the fact
that it is illegal in New York.
And worse yet, the film doesn’t seem to have an opinion about David’s
pill-popping habits either, as this is a storyline never addressed by the
conclusion of the narrative, despite the damage it inevitably causes.
This film is
obnoxious, but some of the fault doesn’t land on the filmmakers. They made a
drug movie that doesn’t cater to those who are taking them, nor does it
criticize the practice of relying on them. It doesn’t seem to have much of any
opinion about anything other than the attractiveness of Daddario and David’s
stupidity for letting her slip away. The remaining blame lands on the marketing
department, who clearly tried to sell this film as something it was not. Even
the cover photo on the Blu-ray has edited in some shitty fake smoke, made to
look like Brener is exhaling it, despite the fact that his character never
smokes in the movie and clearly isn’t doing so in the photo.
Entertainment Value:
4/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3.5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 0/10
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