No top dog, but certainly no runt

Rating: 7/10 (31 August 2016)

An odd dog which can't decide to be either dramatic or comedic at certain points, especially the cannabis scenes that felt phoned in. Obviously to cash into the Superbad angle the trailers an executive had in mind. The bookmarking chapter-headings damaged some flow, but heavily reminds the viewer of its Rolling Stone origins. The only female role is disgustingly bland but other supporting roles - Bradley Cooper, Kevin Pollak and Gabriel Spahiu - made up for that shortcoming. Jonah Hill proves he can play sociopaths as much as dorks, displaying his Moneyball dramatic ability. Miles Teller is so-so, but his character is so written blandly as an audience surrogate that he can be forgiven. It also glosses over details of the 'Arms & the Dudes' source material, probably because a Hollywood executive didn't want to accidentally create a How-To guide (nothing new - Fight Club's Hollywood adaptation omitted elements of its home-made Napalm recipe). Honestly this is not Lord of War, but this is no amateur hour. The film-making itself is solid enough to keep interest in a by-the- numbers script, making it better than it really should've been.