What happens when a weed head and a conservative wannabe entrepreneur think of a genius way to make some money? The two discover the profitable business of growing marijuana in the DJ Pooh written and directed smokers classic, Grow House. Grow House, a comedic film that stars Lil Duval and DeRay Davis, is the hilarious story of two friends who desperately need to pay off a debt owed to Faizon Love, who plays the wheelchair-stricken character “Rollin’ Reg”. The stoners make a wild decision to start a medical marijuana business. The only thing is, “Darius” (Duval) and “Pat” (Davis) are inexperienced in building a grow house and reverts to a cannabis-related pamphlet to learn how. The official IMDB synopsis is as follows: There’s a boom in medical marijuana dispensaries in the state of California and the U.S. These facilities have reached record numbers, cropping up like Starbucks or McDonald’s. States across the nation are legalizing medical and recreational marijuana. Our two unlikely heroes, Pat (DeRay Davis – “EMPIRE,” “21 Jump Street,” “GI Joe”) and Darius (Lil’ Duval – “Scary Movie 5,” “Meet the Blacks”), figure they can help the medical marijuana movement, but mainly help themselves by trying to grow their own cannabis and selling their crop to the dispensaries. There’s only one problem – knowing how to smoke marijuana doesn’t mean you know how to grow it. After taking a trip to Dr. Doobie (Malcolm McDowell – “Entourage”, “The Mentalist,” “Home Alone”) to become legally certified growers, they gain access to a Bel-Air mansion to use as a “grow house.” Although they convince Snoop Dogg (played as himself) to fund their operation, our heroes soon discover what can grow wrong, will go wrong in this… After viewing the film at a recent screening, my take away is that Grow House is generous with characters plus visual and verbal moments that are comedy gold. Fans of cannabis-related films like “How High,” “Up in Smoke,” or “Half Baked” will appreciate Grow House for its ability to go beyond just smoking. The film dives into the business side of the medical marijuana phenom, which hasn’t been highlighted in any smokers movie thus far. Appearances by Snoop Dogg, Malcolm McDowell, Charlamagne Tha God, and others also helps the hilariousness of the script come to life. Grow House is in theaters today, April 20!
