Buy posters from this movie

I've never heard of this Marty Sader guy. According to the IMDb, his only previous work was "Uncredited" in a 1993 movie called The Ice Runner. So when I slid this movie (which Marty co-wrote, directed, and starred in) into my VCR, I had very little to go on. Not a problem, because it's clear after only 15 minutes that Marty has some solid skills as a filmmaker. Directorially, he keeps perhaps just a bit too much fat on the bones of his debut film, but as a writer, he captures the grimy grimness of drug addiction with a knowing intensity. Performance-wise, Marty comes off the best. His performance may sound gimmicky on paper (the guy loses about 75 pounds as the movie progresses) but there's some real talent on display here.

Basically, Most High is about a perfectly middle-of-the-road fellow named Julius who lands on some hard times (girlfriend takes off, adopted father passes away, fired from a job he loves) and falls ass-backwards into the depths of drug addiction. As is often the case in situations like this, Julius finds a kindred spirit with whom he can share his quick-fix degradations, and that person is the tempting but tortured young Erica, daughter of Julius' recently-deceased father figure.

The pair take to medicating themselves right out of pain, but it's not too long before Julius begins to rediscover a whole new meaning for the word "pain". To its credit, Most High is not about the act of getting high or why the addicts do what they do. This is a bold and effective cautionary tale, one that shows us how resoundingly simple it is to resort to a needle when the beer stops numbing your pain.

Most High is about the very nature of addiction. It paints an eerily accurate picture of how a Normal Joe can quickly end up in the dankest pits of despair. As a "drug movie", Most High may not be as flashy or exciting as it's arthouse counterparts, but there's an inherent sense of sincerity in the movie that helps one overlook a few dry spots and the now-familiar quick-cut druggie montages. Boasting excellent performances from two current-unknowns (Sader's co-star / co-writer Laura Keys delivers some blistering work) and an insightful approach to a horrific subject, Most High is an astute no-budget nightmare...and that's meant as a compliment.

"Most High" may not be everyone's cup of coffee, but it marks a suprisingly effective debut...especially when you consider how many times we've been offered similar stories in recent years.

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=10994&reviewer=128
originally posted: 10/05/04 07:06:03
 printer-friendly format