HomeFilmDon Peyote DVD review

Don Peyote DVD review

Warren Allman (Dan Fogler) is an unemployed stoner living with his girlfriend and is being forced into a marriage he doesn’t really want. One day he has an unpleasant encounter with a homeless man who preaches that the end of the world is nigh. Fuelled by apocalyptic dreams, Warren becomes obsessed with doomsday theories and decides to make a documentary on the subject. As he ventures further down the rabbit hole, the more he starts to uncover.

Dan Fogler seems to have popped up in several comedy films over the past few years. But he has yet to break out into his own. Don Peyote was probably meant to be the film that broke through for him – his own Pineapple Express if you will. Here, he shares writing and directing duties with Michael Canzoniero. But all of this counts for nothing when we started the film, and from there on it this stoner conspiracy film got worse and worse.

Forget the fact that most of us don’t know what it’s like to be out of our mind on drugs or really care about conspiracy theories, there should still be some sort of relevance for the viewer to engage and connect with. Allman is a blob of a man that has little to no redeeming qualities that we found. His constant obsessions with these suspicions of the world ending or that most of us are reptilians are just absurd and completely idiotic. None of it is funny or enjoyable; instead we sat watching a middle aged man following stories that are more BS than is humanly possible.

The only funny moments came when we laughed at the ridiculous theories some of these guru’s were spouting. The rest of the movie goes by in a blur of uninterested-ness.

Fogler clearly wants to make a film that is heavily influenced by Hunter S Thompson’s work, yet Don Peyote is a million miles away from Hunter’s bizarre yet coherent ramblings. Fogler and Canzoniero have written a story (and script) that is blowing smoke up its own backside. Yet it can’t see ‘said backside’ because of all the smoke that’s coming from what they are puffing on. They have also, and we’ve no idea how this happened, managed to get some really star studded cameo’s in this film. OK, they all have fleeting scenes, but it’s still mind-boggling as to why they are even doing this film.

Don Peyote wants to be the Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas of the conspiracy world, yet crashes and burns. Add in a storyline that is a complete wack-job and include copious amounts of weed and you have a mess of a film, with nothing to say or even offer the casual viewer.

Mark Searby
Mark Searby
Film critic for BBC Local Radio. Author of Al Pacino: The Movies Behind The Man. Addict of The Wire. Long-suffering supporter of NFFC.

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