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Grass

2000, Movie, NR, 80 mins

Grass: Review

This hipster's-eye view of the war against pot from Ron Mann isn't exactly an evenhanded look at drug use. At times it swings so far in the opposite direction, arguing in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana, that it's just as one-sided as the hysterical anti-pot propaganda the film so gleefully mocks, and just as much fun. In Mann's telling, much of the history of America's war against drugs is also the history of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the DEA) and its first commissioner, Harry J. Anslinger. When the criminalization of marijuana became a states' issue in 1937, Anslinger mounted an all-out campaign of anti-drug propaganda in an effort to convince state legislatures of the dangers of drug use: It leads to insanity, heroin, crime sprees and death — hyperbolic claims Mann lists as "official truths" and works into fabulously animated intertitles along with a running tally of the overall cost of the anti-drug effort for each era profiled. Mann's previous films include the anti-censorship COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL and a wildly entertaining history of that shocking dance craze, TWIST. He's a solid historian and this film is full of fascinating facts, but he's a cultural critic at heart, and a good one at that. The best parts of his film involve his treatment of the artifacts the war against drugs left behind; he provides an amazing selection of clips from classic mental hygiene and exploitation films, including a classic bit in which a drowsy Sonny Bono raps about the dangers of grass. Mann also exposes the underlying political and social agendas that drove anti-drug targeting of unpopular races (blacks), immigrant groups (Mexicans) and political affiliations (communism). And, speaking of drowsy, the film is narrated by actor and hemp proselytizer Woody Harrelson in his own, inimitable style. leave a comment --Ken Fox