Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Constant smoking, language in indie stoner dramedy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
I, Challenger
What's the Story?
In I, CHALLENGER, Sid (James Duval) is a weed dealer who is facing middle age and an unexpected eviction notice due to unpaid taxes levied by the IRS. His only friends are a fellow gamer named Logan (Coy Stewart) who he hasn't met in person, and teens from a nearby private school who buy weed from him. At Logan's suggestion, Sid (who goes by "Challenger" in the gaming world) joins Tinder to at least get something going with his love life, but ends up tied to his bed and left with no way of getting free by his first date (Margaret Cho). He's close enough to his gaming console to beg Logan to come by and rescue him, and when Logan finally comes over despite not really wanting to meet "Challenger" in the real world and frees Sid, Sid bemoans his bad luck, and Logan tells him how it's important to make one's own luck in life. Desperate for good luck and a solution to his money woes, Sid gets sucked into a YouTube hole of videos from Russia in which people claim that after burying themselves six feet underground with nothing but an oxygen tube and whatever they can fit in their casket to stay alive, they experience phenomenally good luck. Intrigued and desperate for any kind of change in his fortune, Sid convinces Logan to help him carry out this scheme and provide a live stream of Sid as the first American to attempt a self-burial for good luck. As Sid and Logan dig the whole in Sid's backyard and begin the livestream, it doesn't take long for it to go viral, but circumstances take a dark turn, and Sid must learn that good fortune is more than something that just happens.
Is It Any Good?
This is a better-than-average indie stoner dramedy that eventually gets to the point. I, Challenger starts off like it's going to be a full bingo card of weed cliches -- a slacker lead character is too stoned to pay his taxes, sits around playing video games in his slovenly living space etc. and so forth. The meandering pace of Sid selling weed, going to the dispensary to buy more weed, riding his bike around the streets of northeast Los Angeles, buying lottery tickets at the corner store is, somehow, enjoyable enough, as Sid eventually comes across as a likable character stuck in a rut and going through some tough times.
Eventually, the point of this all emerges, and the absurdity of what Sid undertakes in the hopes of changing his fortunes serves to show the ridiculous lengths people will go to both ignore the good fortune that's right in front of them and not put in the effort to make the changes necessary to create their own good luck. How much of this breaks through the constant weed cloud in nearly every scene is uncertain, but the indie qualities of the movie -- assured acting, making the most of a limited budget -- break through the haze. That said: Was all the meandering worth it? Mostly yes, but like all the other movies where marijuana is central to the story, the enjoyment of the movie mostly depends on how much one enjoys tales about drugs.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about "stoner" movies like I, Challenger. While it has obvious similarities to other movies centered on characters who smoke a lot of marijuana, how is it different?
Is Sid a likable character, despite his faults? Why or why not?
Does the movie glamorize teens smoking marijuana, or is it trying to realistically show how teens get high, or both?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 11, 2022
- Cast : James Duval , Coy Stewart , Margaret Cho
- Director : Paul Boyd
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Bisexual Movie Actor(s) , Asian Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Strike Back Studios
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 98 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : January 19, 2022
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