The Reg and Zorn are the new breed of self-styled, broadcast journalists; freelancers who use cheap technology and tips to their website to investigate wrongdoing and expose it. Think of them as the paparazzi for real news, the modern day champions of justice. But, they are also dedicated stoners - the highfunctioning variety – who, owing to their ever-shifting ethics of convenience, are not above manipulating the truth to get their desired result. Operating outside journalistic norms, employing dirty tricks and ambush interviews, they catch their subject’s off-guard with frequently hilarious results. Unfortunately for them, the good times are coming to an end. Wealthy developer, Magnus Martindale, the subject of one of their exposés (a sleazy piece about so called, "straight men", who have sex with men), has decided to fight back by filing a defamation lawsuit against the boys and the local news station that aired their piece. To make matters worse, when questioned by station manager, Blake Morgan, The Reg implicates Zorn when it was really The Reg’s handiwork. When Zorn finds out, he is furious. Their bond of trust broken, Zorn insists the only way they can save their friendship and continue working together is by recording their every moment in each other’s presence so neither can finger the other again -- a form of video détente.
The result is Doobious Sources, a movie constructed from the footage shot by these two dudes (and actually shot by the two actors who star in the film) during a very trying time in their relationship. Like typical stoners, the guys initially deal with the lawsuit through denial and avoidance. But, when Magnus Martindale, suspecting the exposé is part of a plot between his wife and Zorn to get their hands on his money, shows up at their office and beats Zorn silly, avoidance is off the table. At the same time, Blake Morgan requests the boys’ undercover expertise helping a young reporter named, Ky Kittredge, who’s discovered a blockbuster corruption story at Vernon city hall. Given their current circumstance, the money proves too great for them to turn down. They soon come to realize, however, Ky is wise to their misdeeds in the “Straight Guys” exposé and is interested in them less for their expertise than their willingness to break the law. He proceeds to extort their compliance in a series of crimes intended to get the goods on the mayor for diverting tax revenue to a secret slush fund, but Ky has an ulterior motive: revenge. Ky, you see, used to date the mayor’s daughter and blames him for breaking them up, so to avenge his broken heart he has resolved to take down the mayor on local news. Borrowing a fancy RV, Ky and the guys go undercover on a scorched earth pursuit of the mayor.
As the felonies mount up, The Reg and Zorn become increasingly uncomfortable with their situation, until they finally decide enough is enough. They offer to help Ky bust the mayor using old-school investigative journalism techniques, but Ky balks. It appears there is no way out for them but to admit their past deeds and let the chips fall where they may. Then, providence intervenes. Magnus Martindale shows up gun in hand to force them into confessing they set him up. It seems remedy in the civil courts is no longer sufficient for him. Instead of turning on each other, however, the guys find their old groove and, through clever dissembling, manage to convince Magnus that Ky is the one responsible for their exposé. When Ky shows up to retrieve the RV, Magnus takes all of them hostage in order to get to the truth. In the process, he discovers a safe on the RV the guys stole from the mayor’s house.
Of course, none of them know the combo, but this doesn’t stop Zorn from insisting Ky does. Frustrated with all of them, Magnus retrieves explosives from one of his job sites and blows the safe open. Inside he finds cash and dirty photos of Ky with a woman who is not the mayor’s daughter. This convinces Magnus that Ky is the real culprit. He offers to drop his lawsuit in exchange for the cash and a little video “insurance” culminating in a scene that provides the movie with its disturbingly humorous conclusion. In the end, The Reg and Zorn’s lechery gets them off scott-free; free to resume their career as doobious sources.
Gravitas Ventures has announced the Los Angeles theatrical release of Clif Lord's Doobious Sources. Following screenings at the Cannabis Film Festival, the Denver Film Society's 4-20 Special Selection and taking home the Golden Leaf at the Maine Cannabis Film Festival, Doobious Sources will blaze for a week at the Arena Cinelounge Hollywood beginning January 20th, 2017.