Humboldt County: A Review

Humboldt County is a film that largely fails because of the inability of the filmmakers to sustain their faith in their subject. What begins as a fairly routine setup takes on a unique turn, which gives the film promise that they simply can’t deliver on.

In the opening moments, we are introduced to Peter, a med student in the midst of a final exam. It’s obvious to us non-specialists that he’s failing, as he seems totally disengaged from every aspect of the work, displaying some of the worst bedside manner of a medical professional. We learn soon that he has failed this exam, primarily due to a potentially fatal misdiagnosis, a failure that will cost him a prestigious internship. We also learn that the professor who failed him is his father, and so we glimpse the broken nature of his relationships and some insight to his disengagement.

Working through that failure leads him to a one-night stand with the woman that acted as his patient in the exam. After their night together, he hops in the car with her for her drive home. What he didn’t know is that she’s taking him to Humboldt County, a rural county in Northern California, and a long way from his LA home. Her family is an eccentric collection of marijuana growers, living a simple existence that understandably places high value on living below the radar.

The idea of drawing us into a community of marijuana farmers is a fascinating and unique setup, and is filled with unfulfilled potential. His new friend quickly leaves town, leaving him stranded with her family. His discomfort slowly cools as he finds himself drawn to the genuineness of their community. The family lives under the leadership of Jack, played by Brad Dourif who delivers easily the strongest performance in the film. Jack was once a professor at UC Berkeley, but left that life behind for a life lived close to the land and in quiet peace. The film wants us to be drawn to their genuine community, as Jack models and preaches a message of a quiet family life, growing his marijuana without ambition, key to keeping the crops small and the feds at bay. Unfortunately, his family is struggling with his message, as his son is secretly growing a large stash with the hopes of striking it rich. Capitalism has invaded this contrarian culture, and with it comes the threat of federal interest and a crushing of this dream life they have assembled.

Obviously, for most of us peering into a community built around marijuana and asking us to admire this community is a pretty tough hurdle to jump. Had the filmmakers stayed committed to this, though, they may have been able to pull it off. The acting, with the exception of Jack, is pretty lethargic, but it is serviceable, and we still see the genuine nature of their community and contrast with the coldness of Peter’s world. We can understand why he might find this alternative life inviting.

And yet, the filmmakers fail us, opting by the end for routine melodrama and emotional manipulation instead of the genuine, if alternative community that the film celebrates throughout. The plot falls apart by the end, and with it our trust in the filmmakers’ world. The community that seems to offer much promise ultimately appears hollow, and Peter’s final decisions seem scripted rather than driven by genuine human connection.

Still, the film offers intriguing moments as it reflects on the desire for genuine human connection and the fragmentation that results in lives that are consumed with career or money. This is a theme that should resonate and is worth wrestling with, and the admiration of the alternative community seems to serve as a mere storytelling foil rather than an authentic anchor for genuine community. Pulling the question away from Humboldt County, the film caused me to reflect on the emptiness that results in our modern culture, and the need for an alternative vision for living life together. It’s a vision that the film can’t deliver, but a vision that is worth pursuing.