I'm not going to get into all the bad critiques I've read on this film. Personally I knew very little about it before I bought it today and watched it, and I was pleasantly surprised. The trailer, like a lot of trailers, it seems, tells you very little about the movie and if anything is completely misleading. The film starts out introducing us to the 3 major players of this film, Allen(Grenier), a Harvard basketball player and philosophy major who is looking for the ultimate form of consciousness through drug experimentation, his sort-of girlfriend Cindy(gellar), the calculating and very smart but-maybe-in-just-a-little-over-her-head daughter of a mob boss, and his philosophy professor and lover Chesney(JLA). Allen's life changes when his parents home in Kansas, is hit by a tornado and, in what has to be the very definition of the phrase "Deus ex machina", they do not have tornado insurance. In Kansas. For real. However weak this pitiful plot device is, and believe me I almost shut this movie off right then and there, it does get the real plot going, which turns out to be fantastic. Allen, seeking to ease his parents' financial woes, take the advice of his philosophy professor to ask his girlfriend's father for money. Initially he is turned down, but Cindy informs him that all he needs to do is shave a few points off of an upcoming game and the money is his. After staying up all night debating the issue with himself, Allen receives a morning visit from a chemistry major friend who brings with her the original formula for LSD stuffed into sugar cubes, the way they were done in the 60's experiments. These events shape the rest of the film, taking us through a wild and extremely vivid acid trip that sees Cindy and Allen both being pursued by 2 federal agents who are apparently a couple working undercover on Cindy's dad, and who, coincidentally, are sexually involved with Chesney. All of these relationships work in rather manipulative ways, except for seemingly the relationship between student and professor, which seems genuine. The ending, while it may anger some, leaves a bit up to interpretation, unless of course you do about 3 minutes of research on LSD and Thorazine. Each cast member plays their part very well, especially the 2 female leads, the directing is not without its flaws but overall is very unique and very well done. This movie might have made a few more dollars and gotten some better reviews had they spent more time utilizing focus groups and marketing executives, but thankfully for those who are lucky enough to see this film and intelligent enough to enjoy it, they did not.
Review of Harvard Man
