Half Baked is a 1998 comedy film starring Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams and Guillermo Díaz. The movie was directed by Tamra Davis, and co-written by star Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan (Brennan was later a writer on Chappelle's Comedy Central show Chappelle's Show). Cameo appearances include Steven Wright, Tommy Chong, Janeane Garofalo, Willie Nelson, Tracy Morgan, Snoop Dogg, Jon Stewart, Stephen Baldwin and Bob Saget. Jerry Garcia was portrayed by actor David Bluestein, as Garcia had died three years before the film's release.
The film became a cult classic, heralded by many as Dave Chappelle's first comic breakthrough. Chappelle's quote from the film ("I wanna talk to Samson!") has created a popular slang term for smoking marijuana with the term being used on J Dilla's track 'Crushin' (Yeeeeah!). Half Baked hit U.S. theaters on January 16, 1998, grossing $7,722,540 in its opening weekend (#6; #1 at that weekend was Titanic), and grossed in total over $17,000,000. Given the movie's $8,000,000 budget, it can be considered a commercial success as well as a cult favorite.
After Kenny accidentaly kills a cop's diabetic horse by feeding it the food he purchased from a munchie run, he is put in jail and is given a 1 million dollar bail. The rest of the group must bail Kenny out before Nasty Nate gets to him. The group decides to sell marijuana that Thurgood gets through his job as a janitor at a pharmaceutical lab. They become pals with rap star Sir Smoke-A-Lot and the rivals of dealer Samson Simpson. On the side, Thurgood seeks the love of Mary Jane, an anti-pot daughter of a dealer. What follows is typical pothead behaviour with a ton of cameos. Look carefully. Written by Tim Brooks
