Mac & Devin Go to High School

This article is about the film. For the soundtrack, see Mac & Devin Go to High School (soundtrack).

Mac & Devin Go to High School
Home media cover art
Directed by	Dylan Brown
Screenplay by	Herschel Faber Jamieson Stern Jarrett Golding
Story by	Snoop Dogg Wiz Khalifa Pook Brown
Produced by	Ted Chung Benjy Grinberg Lucy Brown Dylan Brown
Starring	Snoop Dogg Wiz Khalifa Mike Epps Andy Milonakis Teairra Marí Luenell Mystikal
Cinematography	Luis Perez
Edited by	Dan Dobi
Music by	King Kenobby
Production companies	Yard Entertainment Doggystyle Records
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Films
Release date	July 3, 2012 (2012-07-03)
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Mac & Devin Go to High School is a 2012 American stoner comedy film. The film was directed by Dylan Brown and stars rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa (in his film debut) in the title roles, along with Mike Epps, Teairra Mari, Andy Milonakis, Luenell in supporting roles and the voice of Mystikal as a narrator character. The story follows two high school students, geeky Devin and badman Mac, a stoner who befriends Devin and introduces him to cannabis. Critical reception was overwhelmingly negative.

The film was released as Direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray exclusive on July 3, 2012. The accompanying soundtrack, which included the hit song performed by the film's lead actors, "Young, Wild & Free", was released in promotion for the film in December 2011.

Plot

Devin and Mac, two lifelong best friends and carefree stoners, are forced to transfer to a new high school after being expelled for bringing weed to class at their old school. Devin, portrayed as the more ambitious but equally lazy half of the duo, dreams of finally graduating and impressing girls, particularly the popular Chanel. Mac, meanwhile, is laid-back and only concerned with finding weed, girls, and keeping life stress-free.

On their first day at the new school, Devin and Mac immediately clash with Principal Cummings, who threatens them with expulsion if they get into any trouble. They also meet Craig, a shady janitor who moonlights as the school’s main weed dealer, quietly supplying both students and faculty. Seeing the boys’ natural charisma with the student body, Craig offers them a deal: sell his product around the school and make enough money to live the easy life.

Devin is initially hesitant, wanting to stay clean for Chanel's sake, but Mac talks him into it, promising it’s just “temporary.” The duo quickly becomes the most popular kids on campus as they supply the school with Craig’s high-grade weed. However, they attract unwanted attention from Officer Jackson, the suspicious school security guard determined to clean up the campus, and Tyrone, an aggressive rival dealer who sees Devin and Mac as a threat to his turf.

As Devin and Mac's operation grows, their double life gets harder to manage. Devin awkwardly tries to woo Chanel during class and school events while hiding his dealing from her. Meanwhile, Mac repeatedly screws up simple tasks, causing several near-misses with faculty and Officer Jackson. Things reach a tipping point when Tyrone sets them up, planting drugs in their lockers and tipping off Jackson.

During a chaotic school assembly, Officer Jackson corners Devin and Mac, attempting to catch them with product on them. However, the boys, using quick thinking and distraction, manage to ditch the drugs and frame Tyrone instead, exposing his own dealing operation. Tyrone is arrested, but the school’s crackdown on all drug activity intensifies.

Devin and Mac consider quitting the business altogether. However, Craig demands they pull off one last big score by selling at the school's homecoming dance. Fearing Craig’s threats and lured by the promise of quick money, they reluctantly agree.

At the dance, everything spirals out of control. Officer Jackson patrols aggressively, Tyrone’s gang seeks revenge, and Chanel grows suspicious of Devin’s strange behavior. After several hilarious mishaps — including Mac setting off the fire alarm and Devin accidentally revealing his hidden weed stash during a dance battle — the school descends into chaos. Craig flees the scene, leaving Devin and Mac to take the fall.

Cornered by Jackson, Devin gives an impassioned speech about wanting to change and be something more than a "weed kid," which surprisingly moves both Chanel and even some of the faculty. Principal Cummings, seeing the crowd’s sympathy and the school's larger systemic issues, lets Devin and Mac off with probation instead of expulsion — provided they stay out of trouble until graduation.

In the aftermath, Devin finally gets a real date with Chanel, and Mac happily returns to doing the bare minimum. Devin and Mac decide to leave their "business" behind and focus on finishing school, but not before one last celebratory smoke session behind the gym, joking about how close they came to ruining everything.

The final scene hints that trouble may not be far away, as Craig watches from a distance, plotting his next scheme.

Cast

• Snoop Dogg as Mac Johnson
• Wiz Khalifa as Devin Overstreet
• Mike Epps as Mr. Armstrong
• Teairra Mari as Ms. Huck
• Luenell as Principal Cummings
• Paul Iacono as Mahatma Chang Greenberg
• Andy Milonakis as Knees Down
• Mystikal as Slow Burn (Voice)
• Far East Movement as Detention Students
• Samantha Cole as Jasmine
• Don "Magic" Juan as Student Service Guy
• Winston Francis as Massage Parlor Bouncer
• Derek D as Assistant Principal Skinfloot
• Teni Panosian as Ashley
• Kendré Berry as Nerdy Chemistry Student
• Alicia Mone't as Jubilance
• Affion Crockett as Captain Kush
• Eunice Kiss as Mamasan
• Andray Johnson as Bail Officer
• Roz Wilson as Study Center Matron
• Carla Howe as Masseuse
• Jamieson Stern as Police Sergeant
• Melissa Howe as Tattoo Parlor Receptionist
• Kelly Pantaleoni as Jenny Billings
• William Stage as himself in the opening scenes.
• Shvona Lavette Chung as M.I.L.F.
• Cordelle Braudus as M.I.L.F.'s Son
• Jennifer Andrade as Munchie Machine Girl
• Young Pilot as A Freshman
• Raul Delante as Tattoo Artist
• Nasia Aissaoui as Foreign Exchange Student
• Dennis George Brown Jr. as Teacher

Students

• YG (Smoker #2)
• Tyga
• Julian (The Rangers)
• Langston (The Rangers)
• Day Day (The Rangers)
• Handan Yousef (Swedish student)

Hemptathalon

• Ty Dolla Sign as Smoker 1
• YG as Smoker 2
• Kendré Berry as Smoker 3
• Tiffany Hughes as Tooted and Pooted Girl

Production

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released on December 13, 2011, by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, also under the title of Mac & Devin Go to High School. "Young, Wild & Free", featuring Bruno Mars, was the most popular song from the album and was successful worldwide: in its first week, the track sold 159,000 digital copies, debuting at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and forty four on the Canadian Hot 100. Snoop Dogg revealed in an interview that the soundtrack's success had inspired him to make a movie based on "Young, Wild & Free", and in March 2012 it was announced that he and Wiz Khalifa would star in the spin-off Mac & Devin Go to High School: The Movie. Production and filming began immediately after the announcement.

Despite the song "This Weed Iz Mine" being featured in the movie, it did not appear on the soundtrack album.

Background

Snoop Dogg had announced plans to release a film and soundtrack with Wiz Khalifa in January 2011, with the release of the song "That Good", originally intended to be the soundtrack's lead single. Wiz Khalifa spoke on the soundtrack, saying: "It's a real big deal because nobody's done it like that as far as a veteran in the game, an OG, a pioneer and then the newest, youngest, most exciting dude in rap coming through, and really just giving people a complete project ... I'm a fan of it, separate myself from making it, [I'm] a huge fan of it. Can't wait."

Location controversy

Much of the film was shot at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California, after the Manhattan Beach Unified School District granted a facilities use permit to The Yard Entertainment, the production company. After two days of filming over the weekend of May 7, 2011, production was halted when it was reported that individuals (some involved with the film, some not) were smoking marijuana on campus, leading the school district to revoke the permit. During the shoot, one group drove a car down the front stairs on the high school causing skid marks. Vandalism and theft from classrooms were also reported by teachers, and The Yard reportedly offered reimbursement to at least one.

DVD release

Straight-to-DVD release of the film was scheduled for April 20, 2012, which was then delayed to July 3, 2012. As of August 2012, the DVD had sold 54,641 units in the United States.

Critical response

Mac & Devin Go to High School was panned by critics. Pre-release reviews were negative. After its release, JP DelaCuesta of AllHipHop gave it a 3/10, saying: "There’s no other way to say this except Mac and Devin Go to High School is bad – plain and simple. The on-screen collaboration between these two Hip-Hop heavyweights is a joke, and for their sakes, hopefully a joke that they and everyone involved with Mac and Devin were in on. At the end of the day, the only thing that Mac and Devin Go to High School proves is that we need How High 2, and we need it bad!" Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club also gave the film a negative review, saying "The protégé completes his evolution when he uses his high-school valedictorian speech to perform 'Young, Wild & Free,' the hit single from Mac & Devin Go To High School. 'Young, Wild & Free' is everything Mac & Devin Go To High School should be but isn’t: fun, light, goofy, entertaining, and young. In moments like this, the movie possesses a strange, disarming innocence, but it forces audiences to endure a punishing gauntlet of misogyny and non-starting comedy to get to that middling moment of moderate enjoyment."

External links

• Mac & Devin Go to High School at IMDb