Since first teaming up in the early 1970s in Vancouver, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong forged one of the most successful comedy partnerships in show business history. Known for their hilarious routines incorporating marijuana humor, the duo found massive popularity with their live performances and become the first “rock n’ roll comedians.”
Their careers took off when the two Americans in exile in Canada discovered a unique chemistry in improvised comedy. Moving to Los Angeles, Cheech and Chong developed material skewering contemporary culture with a laidback stoner style. Spurring several breakthrough albums and blockbuster films like Up In Smoke, they packed arenas worldwide with fans laughing along to bits like “Dave’s Not Here!”
By the mid-1980s, personal and creative tensions led to their split. Yet the bond between Cheech and Chong remained strong despite ups and downs. Now David Bushell’s illuminating documentary Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie reunites the septuagenarian comedians, exploring their partnership’s peak and decline through priceless archival interviews and footage. Most enjoyable, it pairs Cheech and Chong for road trip scenes where their easy banter evokes the improv roots of routines which entertained millions in their 1970s heyday.
Through it all, the film underlines how Cheech and Chong’s boundary-pushing humor opened doors for others while staying rooted in the counterculture spirit of their time. An affectionate look back, Bushell’s film proves some comedy classics will never get old.
Different Journeys, Shared DNA
Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin took divergent paths to cross in Canada, forging one of comedy’s most iconic duos. Born in Canada to a Scottish-Irish father and Chinese mother, Chong grew up struggling in Edmonton.
An early love of music shone through, leading him to drop out of high school after a fateful night discovering jazz great Ornette Coleman. He played guitar across Canada in bands like Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, crafting songs that laid foundations for The Jackson 5.
Cheech hails from very different roots. The son of a Mexican immigrant father and Scottish-British mother, he came of age in 1960s Los Angeles. A rebellious spirit saw him active in protests against the Vietnam War. Rather than serve, Cheech escaped to Vancouver to throw pottery and teach Chicano studies. There, diverse interests blended a musician’s armistices with activism’s drive for change.
It was in Vancouver that their disparate journeys intersected. Chong performed improv at a club he managed, honing abilities that found full bloom in their future partnership. Cheech caught one of Chong’s shows and an invitation to jam followed, sparking instant creative combustion. Though worlds apart, each man recognized in the other a complementary talent and vision.
From these chance beginnings grew sketches reliant on their unmatched comedic synergy. Gigs led to albums and films cementing Cheech & Chong as forefathers of stoner humor. Though genres differed, both arrived with skills serving the act’s success.
Chong brought musicality and performing confidence. Cheech offered social awareness and political wit, amplifying their counterculture charm. Opposites thus attracted, fate brought together two kindred spirits who’d help redefine comedy through their unique blend.
Going Up In Smoke
Settling in LA, Cheech and Chong’s talents erupted. Crowds packed shows for routines like “Basketball Jones,” fueling laughs with laidback hippie personas. Their chemistry intoxicated on stage. Record execs took note, leading to albums blending sketches and catchy catchphrases. Productions by industry veteran Lou Adler amplified their message nationwide.
Adler saw their reefer reveries appealed far beyond head shops or hippie pads. With Up In Smoke, he set the world alight. On minuscule budget, this stoner epic stormed cinemas. Cheech and Chong played to packed theaters across America, captivating all beneath thick plumes of popcorn smoke and shallow hits off smuggled joints. Their trippy tales of dopey delights struck a chord, reflecting anti-establishment attitudes of rebellious youth.
As they toured rigorously, each film outdid the last. Next Movie increased profits tenfold. Nice Dreams and Things Are Tough All Over kept packed audiences cheering, cementing the act as box office kings. Where other counterculture icons faded, Cheech and Chong only proliferated. Their unlikely ascension personified the era, allowing outsiders to laugh through societal struggles in a haze of hilarious high jinx.
Of course, rising influence brought mounting pressures. Cashing in came at a cost, straining the duo off-screen. But together, magic transpired. Their intuitive improv invoked pure silliness, giving voice to stoner subculture.
For a time, Cheech and Chong defined the age, cruising atop a weed-fueled wave they’d shaped themselves from nothing but talent and tenacity. Even today, their signature blend of laidback lunacy lives on – proof positive that some pairs are just meant to pair up and take names, if not numbers too.
High Times, Hard Times
As Cheech and Chong’s fame flourished, so too did unrest beneath the smiles. The boys burned brightest onstage, where free-flowing fun spawned hits like “Sister Mary Elephant.” But movies meant new problems, with money issues and clashes over credit.
Their first flick Up In Smoke blew the doors wide, yet bushel alleges they earned a measly two grand! Promoter Lou Adler saw dollars, not the dreamers who made his millions. No surprise tensions emerged.
When Chong directed subsequent sequels, Cheech felt marginalized, accusing Tommy of an overblown ego. Chong recalls anger at barely featuring in Born In East L.A., stoking old embers. Clearly these brothers harbored hurdles beyond any script.
Still, profits poured and people packed venues nationwide to peek the pair’s priceless pantomimes. Did mainstreaming tame their taboo topics? The men muse modestly on millionaire statuses but stay proud populist pot purveyors till the end.
Counterculture champions, their irreverence forever unlocked doors. While commercialization complicated camaraderie, global grassroots fans found solace in shared smoke and madcap misadventures. Contentious periods proved these pioneers stayed truest to bringing belly laughs without boundaries or judgment — a lesson still sorely needed in times when humor faces censorship from shrill voices on both extremes.
Through filmed trips down Memory Lane, old flames rekindled if briefly. In film as in life, ups more than outweighed any downs for the dynamic duo who showed millions it’s okay, and fun, to giggle at what others preach is grave. Their legacy, like the best of their work, is apt to endure long after the last light of laughter fades far from our screened shores into night.
Smokes and Mirrors
Time took its toll on the tight-knit troupe as tensions emerged between Cheech and Chong. By the 1980s, financial disputes soured their on-screen synergy while off-camera egos clashed over credits. Bushell’s film reflects how even decades later, neither man sees quite eye-to-eye on what drove them apart.
Chong’s directorial duties brought frustration for Cheech, who felt sidelined in successive films. Tommy admitted strong desires for control sparked disputes. Their swan song Corsican Brothers confirmed a fracture, with the formula failing fans. While pride pushed them through promotions, smiles masked simmering strife.
Post-breakup found divergent paths. Cheech forged new ground with consequential comedy-drama Born In East L.A., advocating for his community with nuance rare for the time. Tommy faced legal troubles but maintained irreverence performing classics. Both remained tethered to their stoner roots yet grew as multi-dimensional talents.
Sparks reignited during the doc as the septuagenarians rehashed ancient arguments, stubborn to this day in stances. Reunions brought fleeting peace yet underlying irritations lingered beneath shared mirth. Cheech frankly voiced feeling overwhelmed by Chong’s swagger, while Tommy expressed still smarting from marginalization.
Despite ups and downs, their mark rings eternal. Cheech and Chong challenged conformity and opened comedy’s horizons, giving voice to those on society’s fringes. While Bushell’s film shows the duo better together, both deserve praise for individuality manifest through unflinching authenticity and art that amuses while it instigates thought. Some scars remain from their break but cannot diminish an unforgettable act’s legacy.
Lifelong Partners, If Not Always Friends
Bushell captured fresh magic seeing Cheech and Chong road tripping through sunbaked Joshua Tree together. Impromptu scenes felt lifted from classics like Up In Smoke, the duo riffing off each other seamlessly despite decades apart. Elsewhere, individual interviews shine new light on their bond.
Both express deep pride in how far charisma and talent carried them, from grubby strip clubs to global fame. Cheech acknowledges Tommy’s early belief helped launch an act shaped by outsider perspectives. Yet shadows linger too – Chong remains convinced of his directorial genius, though others saw controlling habits. Cheech resents being cast aside and cites Tommy’s sizable ego as the core conflict.
Remarkably, good humor prevails between the former partners through it all. Though stubborn stances remain etched in memory, warmth shows in how they catch up like no time passed. Clearly their work formed the happiest period, creativity and silliness flowing freely as peers, not competing auteurs.
Bushell smartly focuses here rather than delving politics, knowing views evolve. Still, one reads between praised capitalism and acknowledged sellouts – two iconoclasts mainstreaming rebellious spirit for paydays, a irony not lost on them. Their impact endures by opening doors for others to push envelopes once taboo.
Time and forgiving hearts smoothed some friction, leaving a legacy of laughter. If not always easy allies, Cheech and Chong proved lifelong companions through shared experiences few could imagine. Between spells as unlikely friends and formidable foes, theirs remains a most fascinating famous friendship.
Enduring Legends of Laughter
No doubt, Cheech and Chong left an indelible mark. Their brazen films and albums continue delighting new generations with rule-breaking humor, while their trailblazing antics shattered stagnant social norms.
Bushell’s documentary proved a fitting homage to these icons. Archival gold mines and fresh road trip scenes brilliantly captured the pair’s magic. Hearing their perspectives also offered nuanced insights. While some wished for deeper analysis of their impact, Last Movie undeniably transported viewers back to their heyday.
Of course, no single work can encompass two such prolific careers. The film seemed most rewarding when focused on Cheech and Chong’s lifelong bond, forged in radical collaboration but tested by clashing egos. Even after estrangement, their affection persists through shared memories of madness and mirth.
As the comedians enter their tenth decade, their renegade spirits show no signs of fading. Low-key reunions prove this partnership transcends any fight; theirs remains one of entertainment’s most unusual yet enduring double acts. While drugs and crude jokes paved early success, Cheech and Chong deserve our endless thanks for proving outsider voices can shake society, and two misfits can forever change comedy by amplifying each other’s wild dreams.
Their anarchic art was ahead of its time, and stays fun decades later. That longevity says most about these masters of mixing subversion with smiles. As long as people laugh at the follies of this crazy world, Cheech and Chong will surely echo on.
The Review
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie
Director David Bushell has crafted a fitting tribute to comedy legends Cheech and Chong with this documentary. While not without its flaws, Last Movie transports viewers back to the exhilarating prime of its subjects' partnership through a wealth of archival materials and new interviews. The film shows how their unique alchemy of subversiveness and hilarity defiantly pushed social boundaries, cementing their well-earned status as icons who still leave audiences rolling decades later. All in all, while not without its flaws, Last Movie proves a worthy sendoff to two true originals who reshaped comedy for good.
PROS
- Features abundant archival footage that brings the comedians' work vibrantly to life
- Interview segments provide fresh perspective on their partnership and lasting legacy
- Road trip scenes showcase their chemistry and ability to riff together seamlessly
- Transports viewers back to the countercultural 60s/70s era they helped define
- Pays fitting homage to the groundbreaking duo's monumental contributions
CONS
- Narrative flow is uneven with some redundant repetitive details
- Lacks sufficient contextual analysis of their cultural/artistic influence
- Fails to adequately address tensions that led to their breakup
- Story feels constrained by linear biographical structure
- Could have delved deeper into their progressive social impacts
