Newlyweeds

I’m saying that King has fearlessly forged into unexplored territory — that being the African-American stoner comedy, with an adult audience in view – and the results are profoundly hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking, often brilliant and entirely devoid of political piety.

Debut writer-director Shaka King dramatizes her characters' descent into disarray with disarming intimacy.

The movie has a certain dark charm, and often feels like early Spike Lee in its energetic depiction of working-class Bed-Stuy folk.

Going neither in the direction of Reefer Madness nor a Cheech and Chong movie, it's both funny and serious, and its depictions of pot-smoking could be read as either promotional or cautionary.

Despite the hard lessons learned, King seems to have a pretty deep appreciation for Lyle and Nina’s drug of choice — and you’ll probably enjoy the movie a little more if you feel the same. Just think twice if you’re planning to sneak some homemade brownies into the theater when you see it.

Newlyweeds, for all its freshness, never really lands. It remains suspended in a haze of secondhand smoke.

Newlyweeds looks and sounds primo. Storytelling-wise, however, it’s more than one toke over the line.