Growing Op

Growing Op (2008): Dir: Miohael Melski / Cast: Stephen Yaffee, Rachel Blanchard, Wallace Langham, Rosanna Arquette, Denis Theriault: Amusing comedy about growing marijuana and the reality of somebody entering the public school system. Stephen Yaffee plays a teenager whose parents grow marijuana. He and his sister are home tutored until he decides to enroll into a public school. Hilarious setup is very detailed but the ending is questionable depending on one's view of marijuana. Directed by Miohael Melski with a great set that is totally a marijuana lover's wet dream. Hilarious performances by all headed by Yaffee whose childhood was somewhat secluded and all about as his parents constantly moved when their secret was threatened. Yaffee is joined by Rachel Blanchard as that mysterious girl next door. Wallace Langham and Rosanna Arquette steal scenes as the parents. Langham is at his best when hosting Blanchard's parents in what becomes the funniest moment in the film. Arquette is the brains of home schooling. Together they present the ultimate self sacrifice but unfortunately that opens doors to a questionable moral dilemma. Denis Theriault plays one of Yaffee's pot head pals. With an interesting concept and creative screenplay it presents a strong theme that deals with where you came from and where you aim to be. Score: 8 / 10

I can't believe all the positive reviews for this awful movie. I suspect that most of the reviews are plants by the children of the embarrassed adults involved taking this horror of embarrassingly bad writing and phoned-in acting to market. Even the plants look artificial. Have these critics never seen a movie before? And speaking of lack of background, did the set designers do no research whatsoever about a real grow op? Nothing rang true about this movie--not the parents, not the cops, not the growing operation, not the high school...nothing. Come to think of it, maybe the other reviewers and the screenwriter are one in the same; both are totally lacking in credibility.

My wife and tenant love to torture me with main stream movies...this was such a refreshing break! You could really care for the characters and the plot flowed along really well. I think I only realized it was Canadian made when the court scene happened...why can't Canadian productions make better court rooms? lol I would recommend this to anyone, especially stoners. A great film you can really get in to. I am going to look for more films by the same people, I thought it was really well written. If anyone knows more films by the same people, please post!

This film essentially begins with a teenager by the name of "Quinn" (Steven Yaffee) developing a crush on a girl named "Crystal" (Rachel Blanchard) who is new in town and has just moved in to the house across the street. Naturally, wanting to get to know her better, Quinn searches for ways to hang out with her a little more. The problem, however, is that he has been home schooled all of his life and is not only socially awkward but faces severe competition from all of the other boys who attend the same high school as Crystal. If that wasn't bad enough, Quinn's parents "Bryce" (Wallace Langham) and "Diana" (Rosanna Arquette) have adopted a hippy lifestyle, shun society at large--and grow marijuana throughout their house. To top it all off, his slightly younger sister "Hope" (Katie Boland) makes ends meet by selling her parents discarded product on the side. So, to offset some of these disadvantages, he decides to take matters into his own hands and enrolls in the high school to vigorously pursue the girl of his dreams. What he doesn't count on, however, is the mean-spirited reaction by some of the other kids who look down upon him and do everything they can to publicly humiliate him. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say this film started off reasonably well but took a rather dark turn towards the end and never really recovered after that. That being said, while I don't consider this to be a bad comedy necessarily, the mishandled ending left me somewhat disappointed and I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly below average.

I had the good fortune to see this film at the opening night ceremony for the Silver Wave Film Festival in Fredericton. It is, quite simply, the best independent feature film I have ever seen come out of New Brunswick. This feel-good movie about a teenager who has trouble fitting in, because of his radically anti-establishment marijuana-growing parents is funny and original. There is plenty in it to make you laugh and the female lead (Rachel Blanchard) is extremely attractive in a "girl-next-door" kind of way. When I first heard that the movie was about drugs, I was worried that it would be narrow, unimaginative and predictable; however this movie is anything but predictable. Thankfully, the acceptable acting quality and originality makes this movie much more than merely a film about drugs. It is about first-love, freedom, growing up, the nature of betrayal and high school politics. I recommend this film to independent film lovers all around the world and all Canadians.

Im not usually a fan of weed films or romantic comedies, but I watched this with a lot of enjoyment the other night. The acting from most of the actors was very good, and the chemistry between the cast as well. Quinn and his father were both superb. Some parts were really laugh out loud funny. Enjoyed the plot twist towards the end, took me completely by surprise. Life in Canadian high-school seems to be depicted pretty accurately. Made me appreciate what I have and see the blessing of not being a little tiny gear in the impersonal system like 99% of other Canadians my age. Will look up the writer / director to try and see more of his work.

Quinn, (Steven Yaffe), a home educated teenager growing up in a family with counter culture parents who run a suburban grow-up wants to lead a normal life. He enrolls in a local high school in order to pursue the girl next door. His attempts to win the girl of his dreams run afoul the school president who sets the high school bullies on him. After enduring humiliation Quinn manages to turn the tables on his tormentors and beat the system at the same time. The funniest high school comedy since "Rock and Roll High School" Neatly reverses the usual stoner formula. Highly sympathetic and nuanced performance from Rosanna Arquette as the mother. "Growing Op" appeals to both the sixties generation and today's teen agers. Both groups see themselves in this movie. High energy, strong music score, MTV style editing and polished script and direction drive this picture along. Not to be missed.

Saw this tonight at the film's premiere at the Atlantic Film Festival. The crowd was great, and we were laughing our heads off all the way through. As a recently-graduated homeschooler myself, it was amusing to see an outsider's (highly inaccurate in my case, but hilarious) take on the practice. Some of the questions raised in the film are questions I ask myself often. Kudos to the excellent cast, especially Steven Yaffee as the main character, and Wallace Langham as his father, who both really get into their characters and make us feel their emotions. There's a plot twist near the end that seems a bit ridiculous and unnecessary at first, but may make more sense once you think it over. All in all, a great film, and it's always nice to see films from Atlantic Canada that are just good fun to watch.

I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was excellent and I recommend everyone to see it. I hope it wins the Oscar for Best Picture, it would get my vote! GO SEE THIS MOVIE! The acting in it is incredible and the script itself is very unique. The directing is impeccable and the overall feeling was super feel good. My friend convinced me to see it with her and I do not regret it one bit. Our other friend couldn't go and she regrets it a lot. I am usually very critical of movies but this one was just so good. I hope it goes all across Canada as I do not live in Halifax, Toronto or Vancouver. I'm telling everyone I know in those cities to go see it. It is worth the 10 dollar movie ticket. I would even pay more than that to see it.

Absolutely Amazing!!! This film was beautifully shot in a beautiful city! The characters were pristine and the storyline was very original (despite what the Toronto $tar says). I would highly recommend seeing if you get a chance. I will definitely own this DVD as soon as it's available. As a side note, I don't see any resemblance between this film and others. I would compare this film to a lot of others, but for good reason. I would compare the characteristics of the film to others such as Ted Demme's Blow, or Jenji Kohan's Weeds for the sole reason that they are favorite Films and Series. And just F.Y.I, There's room for all three on the top shelf of my DVD collection! =) This film is an inspiration to me as an aspiring filmmaker so thank you very much! Brad