Parents' Guide to Get Duked!

This movie tries to be a lot of things, but doesn't quite succeed at any of them. There's a stoner comedy in there, but most of the jokes either fall flat or feel like humor we've already seen before in other stoner comedies. There's a satire in there about generational divides and how Boomers think everyone younger than them are entitled brats, as the younger generations regard Boomers as selfish jerks who vote for fascists as they leave the planet much worse than they found it, but these messages are likely to get lost in the scenes centered on psychedelic rabbit droppings and extended musical sequences in which one of the characters raps about his penis. Furthermore, after what feels like 20 years of the same tired observations between the generations, this complaining is beyond tiresome. While the deeper messages in Get Duked! are clearly earnest and not delivered in a heavy-handed manner, far too many of the jokes and premises don't quite work.

The acting is fine, and there is an undeniable chemistry between the four lead teen characters as their misadventure in orienteering goes from bad to worse, but too much of the story feels shopworn, from the mediocre aspiring hip-hop artist "from the streets" who isn't really from the streets to all the drug humor. Fans of the "stoner comedy" and UK comedic silliness will enjoy it, as there is enough of both to almost carry it through to the end, but the chaotic and disparate parts of the movie don't make a coherent and rewarding whole.