MOST HIGH is a startlingly powerful debut feature from writer-director-actor Marty Sader, who gained 35 pounds and then lost nearly 100 pounds during a 2-year shoot that resulted in a tour de force performance and simply one of the best films of 2004. We first saw this film at Indiefest in Chicago in August 2004, where it virtually swept the fest's awards. Brilliantly written and acted by Sader and co-writer/co-star Laura Keys, MOST HIGH has all the soul yet none of the pretense of other anti-drug movies like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. But this is no after-school special or "just say no" infomercial. It's a spot-on character study of incredible depth and nuance. Sader's character, reeling from the loss of his father, his girlfriend and his job, could just as easily have fallen into depression instead of drug addiction and spiraled to the same depths. The arrival of Sader is reminiscent of the debut of Steven Soderbergh; he's that kind of talent, plus some, since he also is an actor with formidable chops. Seek out this film and everything that comes afterward from this new, major talent.
Review of Most High
