HAVE A GOOD TRIP: ADVENTURES IN PSYCHEDELICS (2020) **

Have a Good Trip:  Adventures in Psychedelics has an interesting premise.  Celebrities (mostly comedians) describe what it was like (for them) to trip on acid and mushrooms.  We then see animated re-enactments and/or live-action recreations of their hallucinations.  While this could’ve been an intriguing look at casual drug use among celebrities, it quickly reveals itself to be a half-baked idea.

The best stuff is the clips from old anti-drug films from the ’60 that occasionally pop up, usually as a counter to what is being said by the celebrities.  Some of the interviews are enlightening.  The scenes with Sting, Carrie Fisher, and Ben Stiller are particularly memorable.  In fact, the film would’ve been fine if it was just the interview segments.  

It’s when the movie goes for cheap laughs that it completely falls on its face.  The scenes of the various trips feel like something from a shitty sketch comedy show.  Nick Offerman’s host segments (which are a parody of the old government films) land with a thud, as do the After School Special parodies starring Adam Scott.  It’s also unfortunate that some of the most entertaining guys (to me at least), like Will Forte, Marc Maron, and Donovan don’t get their own segment and only appear briefly, which is frustrating.  

Ultimately, the big problem with Have a Good Trip:  Adventures in Psychedelics is that it all feels kind of square.  I mean why spend ninety minutes listening to people TALKING about doing drugs when you could go out and do them yourself?  (Please don’t, at least not on my account.)  It’s kind of like being stuck in a room with a hippie.  By about the fourth time you hear, “Hey man, did I ever tell you about this time I was high on acid…”, you start wishing the ‘60s never happened.