Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

bob the moo I heard about this film recently when the maker appeared on Real Time on HBO. He came across as a fun but proactive guy and it made me want to watch this film. The documentary is just as I imagined it would be based on who he was and in some ways this is a strength but in other ways it is a strength that isn't totally built on.The film takes a rather light hearted look at the drug game – showing each level like it was a stage in a video game and having people who have been there talk about just how easy it is to do and how the financial appeal is just so much more than the risk in some cases or how, in other cases, the option is just so much better than the total lack of other options. In doing this it builds the case for how stupid the war on drugs is, how devastating the mandatory minimum sentencing is and how pointless death and pain there is behind all of this. This is a case that is easily made and for the most part I can see how the film was approaching it because it is very easy to watch and very accessible regardless of your views. The light-hearted tone, the video-game motif, the very (very) fast pace, all of it is aimed at a younger audience and the film deserves credit for that because this is a film with a clear message that will not be switched off by the audience because it is preachy or dry.Problem is that for the most part it doesn't have this message, instead it has a lot of style. The use of celebrities and larger-than-life former criminals doesn't help because generally the tone is upbeat and while the message is reasonably clear, most of the contributors do their sections in a "yeah it was wrong but it was frigging awesome being wrong" style. Only at the very end of the film do we get a sense of the real damage from the contributors, the real loss and pain they all suffered but it is a sudden gear change for the film to get there and it does crunch. This isn't to say that it is a bad film, because it isn't, but the thing it does really well is directly connected to what it does less well. The accessibility of it and the way it will hit the target audience also lessens the factual message and the ability to get to the real heart of the problem and the people.It is worth a look because it is a valuable message in an accessible and fun form, but the use of clips of The Wire will only serve to remind that the same points have been made elsewhere in a much more impacting and strong fashion.

Luke Reeves OK this film is good and well worth watching. The final message after you go through all the video game theatricals is powerful and should come as quite a surprise. However...Although I feel the film is being aimed at young people, instead of influential adults. Young people cannot change anything for 20-50 years, and that's only for a lucky few.When in reality we really need the laws/state of the war on drugs, to change within the next 5-10 years! So the documentary could have been a bit less obvious and more informative. "Lesson 1" "Mission complete" all these aspects were total b.s. and totally not needed.This will just be like "Band Aid" was to Africa (a total waste of time.) Putting high paid actors on it was totally not necessary either. More of the "real" people being affected would have been better in my opinion.Due to the style of this film a lot of important families/people will not even get/want to see it, preferring to avoid it in the extreme cases. Which to me, defeats the purpose of the film's end message/goal.So I gave it 6 out of 10 for the good performances by the characters and because of the knowledge it delivered. Yet even 6 seems too high, for the more I think and analyse its content the more of a farce the film seems and in actuality it's just another cash crop from the fields of unexperienced dummies.First watch I liked it though, after lots of thought second watch was avoided. Film became not liked.

in1984 9.1 of 10. Starts out feeling like a comedy, a faux documentary, in part because of the title, but also because the opening few minutes mock the opening of any "how to get rich" or "how to be successful" TV/video nonsense. Then the alternate reality shifts into reality, but continues with the quick pace and fun attitude for what is a tragic look into the past and present of drugs.It's essentially The War on Drugs documentary for Colbert Report and Daily Show fans, maybe even South Park fans. About the only thing it does wrong is not provide enough charts and data. What it does provide are seamlessly integrated into the film. I would have also like the part on Portugual explored a little more deeply.But wait, there's more! No need for a gun, you can make money by selling drug fear too! This is more than a literal look at how to make money by selling drugs. It gets into the many different ways politicians and corporations are profiting from drug prohibition.

Stuart Cooke At the end of the film's premiere, the 300-odd cinema buffs at the Toronto Int Film Festival were in shock. They were still absorbing the multiple emotions evoked by the film's personalities and power. Ostensibly about the war against drugs and the drug trade, "How to Make Money Selling Drugs" paints on a much larger canvas. So many everyday impressions of how governments work, what the drug trade is, and how it's become such a scourge were overturned, it was difficult to take it all in. I think many will see the film a second or third time to fully absorb its import.The production values are unusual for a documentary. "Talking heads" do not appear as such because everyone we get to meet comes across as a whole person, a unique individual with hopes, weaknesses, and strengths outside of the discussion at hand. They are characters in a real life story with real life consequences for them and the world around all of us. We get to know every one of them a little bit. I left wanting to learn more about many of them. What happens as a result is that the film rises to another level, another theme — a deeply human portrayal of the human condition. A surprisingly revealing mirror of ourselves. It's reporting of the highest possible caliber.