Panicked over his future and the possibility of failing a drug test, Bush teams up with long lost friend Marquette to dose the whole school on 'special' brownies. The ultimate struggle lies in one question, can they get away with it?
While the use of medical marijuana has been a topic vexing popular discourse in recent years, this film is not a satire. In fact, it has little commentary on the politics surrounding the drug. "High School" is special in its plot and focused demographic. While most R-rated comedies tend to focus on adult themes like bachelor parties , middle age, one’s career, High School delves into the overlooked comedy of adolescence. Playing the laid back assistant principle Brandon Ellis (Colin Hanks) plays off of Michael Chiklis’ authoritative role as principle. Colin Hanks was drawn to this project because “I’ve never heard anything like this before.”
Filming at an actual high school and a hotel in Michigan, co-stars Matt Bush and Colin Hanks talked about how filming the movie brought them back to their own high school days. During the filming, Bush and Hanks were able to crash an actual prom. Matt Bush mention that filming the movie “was 17-year-old Matt’s high school dream.”
Colin Hanks, who has guest starred on "Dexter", "Mad Men", and "Band of Brothers" has proved that he can play a variety of roles. “It was a chance for me to do something very silly, sort of out there” Hanks mentioned, regarding a conversation he had with director John Stahlberg.
When asked, Matt Bush said that he wasn’t very much like his straight laced character when he was in high school. Colin Hanks mentioned that “I seemed to have little moments of every single character. Each actor and their character are playing some type of an archetype, and they do a fantastic job.”
Both Hanks and Bush note that their favorite scenes were ones that were hard for them to keep a straight face. Hanks’ favorite scene in the movie was standing opposite the principal (Chiklis) and watching him go on a cheesy rant about drugs and their phases, citing terms like “banging down a stiff lucy.” Bush laughed as he confessed that his favorite scene was sitting underneath Principle Gordon’s desk while Gordon was touching himself.
"High School" is packed with laughs and comes out on June 1st.