SYNOPSIS: A look back at the 50-year career of Cheech & Chong, the duo Lou Adler called “the first rock ‘n’ roll comedians,” “Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie” takes us from their beginnings in Vancouver to, as they say in the movie, “two guys with a bag of Goodwill clothes and one roadie living the rock and roll life.”
CAST: Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Lou Adler, Geraldo Rivera. Directed by David Bushell.
REVIEW: “So, is this a documentary or a movie?” Chong asks at one point. It’s a good question. The film uses elements of traditional documentary filmmaking, but director David Bushell isn’t afraid to use staged scenes to move the story along.
The hybrid style provides an in-depth look at the origins of the duo’s stoner comedy, their time at the top, and the creative frictions that caused an acrimonious split in the 1980s.
It’s a detailed time capsule, that leaves no stone unturned, no roach un-toked. The approach is supported by archival material, animation, fresh interviews and some connective new material of Cheech & Chong riffing while driving through the desert.
Casual fans—ie, those who don’t know who the prissy Sister Mary Elephant is—may get bogged down but for the duo’s hardcores the timeline provides interesting insight into how the pair’s various skill sets dovetailed into the hippie stoner style that made them famous.
Chong’s stagecraft and Cheech’s social awareness combined to create a male double act for their time, like a countercultural Abbott and Costello, or anti-authority Laurel and Hardy.
Along the way are insights into how they created their most famous sketches, like the improvised “Dave’s Not Here,” how a wild ride with Jack Nicholson inspired “Basketball Jones” and how George Harrison ended up playing guitar on that record. They’re fun stories but the compelling info comes later when Bushell delves into their financial and creative partnership.
After signing a bad deal with producer Lou Adler—”We got a pair of lime green shoes out of it,” Cheech says of the $100 box office of their film” Up In Smoke.”—the “Freaks of Frivolity” took control of the career even as they began to drift apart. “The essential part of what was funny never changed,” says Cheech. “What changed was who got to decide what was funny.”
What emerges in this segment is a, shall I say, sober contemplation on how their evolving roles within their partnership broke them up. The hurt from that time reverberates through their contemporary interactions. Bushell captures the easy chemistry between the two, in the old and new footage, but when the tensions arise, the pain is palpable.
“Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie” ends with their career divorce, giving short shrift to the decades of sporadic reunions, trouble with the law (Chong spent 9 months in federal prison for trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia) and, most importantly, placing them into cultural context. As counter cultural icons, they deserve more than a quick montage over the final credits—including Chong’s stint on “Dancing with the Stars”—to define their effect on comedy. Nonetheless, it’s an enjoyable walk down memory lane with two fun tour guides.
