Hits from their bong.
“The Wrong Girls” is the latest comedy about stoner duos in the tradition of Cheech and Chong, Harold and Kumar, Jay and Silent Bob, and Dale and Saul. In fact, this movie was also produced by Seth Rogen who helped gave his own “Midnight Run” spin with “Pineapple Express” less than 20 years ago. And it does have a lot of attitude and hallucinations that any fan of the stoner comedy genre would enjoy. I was thinking maybe Gaspar Noe, but I was also thinking of myself since I enjoy stoner comedies, which helped make my teens so cool. And any drug trip with a squid couldn’t be more psychedelic.
We meet two California stoners named Frankie (Kristen Stewart) and Molly (Ali Shawkat), who have odd jobs to make ends meet with their rent. And to keep themselves as high as possible, they have their hash brownies and their special invention-the Bong-a-tron, which has beakers, hamster tubes, a rubber duck, and a ship in a bottle. Now that’s a bong High Times should be having an article on.
One night, Frankie finds out that her ex-spouse is seeing a scientist that looks like her and is named Frances (also Stewart). As a result, a man-nicknamed by the film as Not Metal Head Dave (Lakeith Stanfield)-asks Frankie, thinking she’s Frances, to hold a briefcase with a lock combination on it. The numbers aren’t 666 (think back to “Pulp Fiction”), but it does have some drugs that light up pink, orange, and yellow. What really makes the drugs deliver is that they give user telekinetic powers. Frankie and Molly take it, and that why they can hear each other’s thoughts, why their cats Dio and GG sound like Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani, why they’re being pursued by a group of Dutch criminals (Thomas Nicholson, Thor Knai, and Thomas La Barbera Christensen), all associated with somebody by the name of Dr. Kock, and why they can move some things with their minds. At least they try to.
So, imagine if “Matilda” was adapted into a film as a stoner comedy. And imagine if this drug is the only way Jon Arbuckle could understand Garfield. I mean there are times when he can, and other times when he can’t, but still.
When they go to a party (hosted by Tony Hale), they get the briefcase stolen by the bad guys, and that’s when have Stanfield being one of the good guys trying to help the girls through this. And the scientists involved with the telekinetic drugs consist of Dr. Chapman (Kate McKinnon), who should a character in a Mel Brooks comedy with her accent and mannerisms, and Dr. Olsen (Geena Davis), who only appears near the end of the film.
“The Wrong Girls” is the directorial debut of Dylan Meyer, who also wrote “XOXO” and Moxie.” And while her screenplay maybe too high for my comprehension, she still delivers a lot of X-factor, a cute sense of humor, and comedy talents who have no integrities. Stewart and Shawkat both have chemistry and timing to play stoners who have potential but can be limited goal wise. And even in the crime genre they find themselves in, they’re not desperate to thrive on it. They just go along with it.
If a string of hair can make ideal dental floss, then Stewart and Shawkat can make ideal stoner comedies. As for Rogen and Nanjiani dubbing the cat voices, no CGI effects, just Garfield thoughts. Money well saved. And I think the lack of stress in comedy had to do with the THC. Very soothing.
