Directed by: Lou Adler
Starring: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Tom Skerritt, Edie Adams, Strother Martin, Stacy Keach
Up in Smoke is Cheech and Chong's first feature-length film and while there are genuinely funny moments, their rhythm wasn't fully established yet. The film plays like a series of self-contained sketches instead of a cohesive film. As an introduction to the stoner pals, it works well enough, although many of the scenes drag on and overstay their welcome.
Pedro (Marin) and Man (Chong) meet after Pedro picks up Man while hitchhiking. Man introduces Pedro to a massively fat joint which is "part Maui wowie and part Labrador," according to Man. "You mean we're smoking dog shit???" Pedro responds, although this doesn't stop him from taking another hit. One thing leads to another and Pedro and Man find themselves driving a van back from Mexico made entirely out of marijuana. This does not deter Sgt. Stedenko (Keach) from tracking the van in hopes of landing a huge bust which will boost his career. Stedenko has run-ins with both Pedro and Man which result in his pants being urinated on in a bathroom.
Pedro and Man soon find themselves in a Battle of the Bands at the famed Roxy (not coincidentally co-owned by Up in Smoke's director Lou Adler) in which Pedro wears a tutu and belts out the Cheech and Chong standard "Earache My Eye". Within these sequences, there are some laughs and many gags which wouldn't be featured in today's climate. Up in Smoke, however, doesn't proceed as heedlessly and confidently as Next Movie or Nice Dreams. Cheech and Chong seem to tread slowly while establishing their characters for the big screen. Up in Smoke isn't bad for a first film and subsequent movies proved Cheech and Chong are an inimitable comic duo.
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