Lewis Black tripping . . . the mind boggles. Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics, the new documentary produced by Rhode Island native Mike Rosenstein, is now streaming on Netflix. Rosenstein went to Classical and worked at Benny’s (his family), ultimately ending up with Ben Stiller’s production company. G. Wayne Miller writes in the ProJo:
During his years with Stiller, Rosenstein worked on dozens of projects, including “Zoolander 2,” starring Stiller, and “Another Period,” “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail,” “Burning Love” and “The Birthday Boys.” He also acted in films, and currently is readying for the release this summer of a one-hour Netflix comedy special featuring Eric Andre.
The ProJo piece tells how this movie came about. Ten years ago, writer/director Donick Carey pitched the idea for the documentary to Ben Stiller at the Nantucket Film Festival, and Carey and Rosenstein have been working on it ever since. (Stiller has a story of his own in the film.) The New York Times was underwhelmed:
Nick Offerman serves as something of a host, clad in a lab coat and surrounded by retro science gear, explaining, “Don’t get me wrong, drugs can be dangerous. But they can also be hilarious.” To be fair, he’s right. But you wouldn’t know that from “Have a Good Trip.”
Which is why I’m writing this before watching it. And I will watch it, but I am really looking forward to that Eric Andre special.
Have a Good Trip running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.
[Update: I really enjoyed this movie! Although I was right about Sting . . . what a windbag. I do think this will be of more interest to people who have had some experience in this area. There are some great bits of vintage footage and government films, and the movie does end with some updates regarding the promising use of psychedelics in therapy, which is no joke.]