Starring Steven Yaffee, Rachel Blanchard. Written and directed by Michael Melski. (18A) 99 min. Opens Nov 21.
Any film that casually names a major character after Gina Gershon’s Showgirls vamp is off to a good start, and while Nova Scotia playwright Michael Melski’s feature debut doesn’t quite transcend its mainstream CanComedy trappings (it’s brightly lit and dully made) it’s witty enough to get by.
Topher Grace look-alike (and act-alike) Steven Yaffee stars as Quinn, the home-schooled son of two boutique marijuana dealers (Rosanna Arquette and Wallace Langham). A strident non-inhaler, Quinn’s desire to connect with straight society is inflamed by the arrival of the proverbial girl next door (a wittily cast Rachel Blanchard as the aforementioned Ms Crystal Connors).
This unusual dilemma — how does one enact teenage rebellion against overbearing pothead hippie parents? — occasions some good dialogue (“Pol Pot went to high school,” chides Langham while railing against the virtues of public education). Melski also has fun with the conventions of the high-school movie (“they’re totally going against our social structure,” pouts one girl after noticing Quinn and Crystal hitting it off). Even if the plot points come entirely on schedule (any sober viewer will spot the big twist coming a mile away), the various high-grade non sequiturs (including home-and-native-land shout-outs to The Guess Who and Degrassi) help to stave off boredom.