Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Rapper sings praises of drug use, with sex and language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Mac and Devin Go to High School
What's the Story?
MAC AND DEVIN GO TO HIGH SCHOOL opens with a cartoon marijuana joint called Slow Burn explaining that you can't watch a weed movie without smoking weed. Overage high school student Mac (Snoop Dogg) is the local dealer and perpetual senior for the last 15 years. His only motivation to finally graduate comes in the form of the beautiful AP chem teacher Ms. Huck (Teairra Mari), who wears a low-cut, cleavage-baring cocktail dress to class and will only date Mac if he finishes school. Devin (Wiz Khalifa) is the bright young senior who is writing his valedictorian speech. After graduation he expects to get a scholarship to Yale, arranged by his controlling girlfriend, Ashley (Teni Panosian). She has been refusing to have sex with Devin but, it turns out, is having an affair with her father's best friend. Mac is trading weed for sex and other commodities; in one example, he gets the answers to the math final exam. Mac introduces Devin to weed, feeding him a laced brownie without Devin's knowledge and then spends the rest of the night with him, smoking more and explaining the need to smoke day and night. While high, Devin gets tattooed on his face, neck, arms, and torso. The Khalifa-Snoop Dogg-Bruno Mars collaboration, "Young, Wild and Free," is performed at the graduation. Everyone smokes and dances at graduation.
Is It Any Good?
The good news about this movie is that it's only 75 minutes long. Perhaps the special effects are deliberately clunky and ancient-looking. And perhaps neither Snoop Dogg nor his collaborators meant to be either clever or thoughtful. It's no surprise that Mac and Devin Go to High School opens with a warning that full enjoyment of the film can only be achieved in a state of smoke-hazed diminished capacity.
This is not to say that Snoop Dogg isn't infectiously contented in his extra-mellow persona. And Wiz Khalifa is a surprisingly good actor. Perhaps one day this may be rediscovered and appreciated by audiences of the future as an artifact of bygone repressed times. For now, it's a good one for teens to skip.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the use of marijuana, especially in light of its legalization in some American states. Do you think Mac and Devin Go to High School explains that even when substances become legal they still might not be safe for young people, whose brains are still developing?
Do you think teens are more likely to accept and agree with this movie's message because likable and well-known figures -- rap artist Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg -- are promoting it?
What are the consequences of taking drugs?
Movie Details
- In theaters : October 8, 2011
- On DVD or streaming : July 3, 2012
- Cast : Snoop Dogg , Wiz Khalifa , Mike Epps , Teairra Mari , Teni Panosian
- Director : Dylan C. Brown
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Anchor Bay
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 75 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : for pervasive drug content and use, language and sexual content
- Last updated : February 15, 2023
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