Far Out Man

I have been a huge fan of Cheech & Chong since they released their first album on vinyl, Cheech and Chong in 71 and it kind of tickled me when Far Out Man said Dave's not here.

This is a few days in the life of an old Hippie Tommy Chong solo with his real family in tow. His daughter thinks he needs help... maybe ... maybe not. I say not. It's him without Cheech, but yea this film which Tommy wrote and directed is pretty cheesy but I can dig it because it is Tommy Chong after all.

I had heard bad things about this Chong solo effort. But surprisingly its quite entertaining. I wasn't expecting much after the later Cheech and Chong films such as Still Smoking but this is much better.

Essenstially its just Cheech and Chong without Cheech, although he does have a brief cameo in this. Also there is not much in the way of drug use either. Chongs character even at one point advising another not to use cocaine. Some cast members acting abilities are questionable and a lot of the jokes fall flat. But it is a lot of fun.

Just don't expect another Up In Smoke! That way you should enjoy this more than say, Still Smoking.

Watch it next time its on TV...

If you like Chong, Soul man or C Thomas Howell then this is the movie for you. Chong is trying to make us laugh on his own, but realistically is in desperate need of Cheech for this one. I liked it, but have also met people who didn't, maybe Im being bias cause im a C&C fan. Honestly speaking, it doesn't touch classics like "the Corsican Twins" or "Up in Smoke" but something about the film seems to draw me to it. We begin with an old skool hippie (chong) who goes on a road trip in search of his long lost family. He meets up with his son (Paris Chong, Tommy's real-life son), who is pretty straight in real life, but in the movie he's totally the opposite. Together they go off to see America. A majority of Tommys real life family have roles, daughter Rae Dawn and Wife Shelby both have lines. I think in order to make a judgment you should view it first.

I liked this movie. It has some lame moments, but then I think all of the C&C, except for Up In Smoke (an absolute classic), have a few of those. I'd rate this better than Still Smokin' and definitely a step above The Corsican Brothers (which I really didn't care for).

Cheech & Chong had a hard time of it thru the 80's, with the Drug Wars in full swing, and were basically blackballed from Hollywood. Cheech caved in, and went "straight" to keep working (since he is the son of a cop, I can't blame him too much). Tommy never gave up, and suffered for it. This movie was an attempt to make a little money, and I think the main reason the family fills out the cast is because they would work cheap. The few others (C. Thomas Howell, Michael Winslow, Judd Nelson) are in this film mostly as favors, including the cameo by Cheech. Don't take this as gospel, it is just what I've heard thru the grapevine. I also heard they almost didn't get this film published, the "heat" was still on.

The plot is thin, but so is the plot in every other C&C movie. Cheesy at times, it still has some great lines and a few laugh out loud moments. Oscar material it ain't, but as a silly stoner movie it isn't half bad. If you are looking for Northern Lights, the commercial Mex quality will disappoint. Don't expect too much, and you'll probably enjoy it.

Pull up a dick and have a seat.

All units, we have a report of a crazy mutha-fuka with a gun... a crazy mutha-fuka with a gun.

Far Out Man (1990)

** (out of 4)

Tommy Chong wrote, directed and stars in this film as an aging hippie who goes on a road trip to try and get all of his family back together. If you're going into FAR OUT MAN expecting some sort of story then you're going to be disappointed because what we've got here is basically Chong getting some family and some famous friends together for a bunch of scenes involving him doing weird or dumb things. At the start of the film we see him fixing breakfast, dropping stuff on the floor and picking it back up to cook. This here, as well as the pot humor, is pretty much the type of laughs Chong goes for and for the most part it's a complete dud. With that said, as bad and as strange as this movie is, there's just something intriguing about it that makes it worth viewing if you're a fan of Chong. The film certainly has an "I don't care what you think" type of attitude for it. I mean, I doubt Chong was trying to win an Oscar for this thing and it's clear that he's just kicking back and having fun. The supporting cast includes a wide variety of famous faces including Martin Mull, Rae Dawn Chong, C. Thomas Howell, Reynaldo Rey, Judd Nelson, Michael Winslow and a cameo that I won't ruin. For the most part, with the exception of Martin, no one is taking their parts all that serious and it seems everyone is just helping Chong as a favor. FAR OUT MAN often fails when it comes to laughs but I think it still remains entertaining due in large part to Chong and his fun nature.