As an impressionable teenager who was eager to get high for the first time, Cheech And Chong's Up In Smoke was right up my alley. As of 1995, I had never even heard of these guys until my sister recommended I check out some of their movies. If I wasn't convinced pot smoking would be a positive experience before I watched Up In Smoke, I sure as hell would be afterwards. For the most part, I was right. Sure, becoming a regular pot smoker put a huge dent in my ambition, and I gained a pound or 50, but no more boredom! And my outlook on life became a bit less serious, which can be good for some people. My still existing love affair with marijuana can be traced back even further than my first time smoking it. In fact, it can actually be traced back slightly further, to the night I watched Cheech And Chong's film Debut. Still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. A pretty well-made film, directed by a guy named Lou Adler. Up In Smoke would kickstart a series of movies which Adler would not be involved. A couple years later, Tommy Chong himself would try his hand at directing and make an attempt at keeping the duo's momentum going. And so Cheech And Chong's Next Movie was born.
In Up In Smoke, Cheech Marin played a guy named Pedro and Tommy Chong played some random guy whose name we never learn and identity is a bit of a head scratcher. In this sequel, they are more or less playing the same roles, but are now referred to as "Cheech And Chong", who I'm guessing are supposed to be fictional versions of themselves. Probably what most people would expect or hope for them to be like at the time. We begin in the middle of a random day where the burnouts are in the process of stealing some gasoline so they can get Cheech to work on time. While successful in their theft, this leads to some rather explosive consequences once they attempt to light one up.
As Cheech fucks up at work, we watch Chong do jack shit with his day, which includes smoking a cock roach and terrorizing the neighborhood with his guitar-playing. Once Cheech returns home, we are treated to one hilariously random scene after the next until Cheech gets a call from his cousin, Red. Red happens to be in a bit of a pickle. From this phone call, we are given the impression that Cheech isn't overly fond of his cousin or the least bit interested in helping him with his problems. At the moment, Cheech is expecting a lady friend to drop by, so, he sends Chong out to find Red and hang out with him, and basically keep him away for as long as possible.
Chong tracks down Red at a hotel in Hollywood where he's being kept out of his room due to a failure to pay his bill. Pee Wee Herman isn't feeling especially reasonable today and isn't interested in excuses. However, Red's money is still in the room, nonetheless, so, something needs to be worked out. The "little asshole", as Chong angrily calls him, is merely trying to let enough time pass so the bill will increase. Long story short, Red and Chong break in and get Red's stuff, including a duffle bag full of pot. Pee Wee calls the cops, ultimately getting himself arrested. Listening to "dark Pee Wee" scream "YOU FUCKIN' ASSHOLE!" while being carried away by cops is every bit as funny as it sounds.
As Chong discovers Red has 20 pounds of pot in his possession, he quickly befriends Cheech's loud mouth cousin, and they go looking for some shit to get into. They end up at a massage parlor/enema clinic/whore house (?) where they run into some weirdos. Red pisses in the hottub and later walks in on some people in the middle of an unusual sex act, which he quickly gets Chong in on so they can make fun of them. Eventually, Red decides the logical next step should be to play a tape recorder of some police sirens that he just happens to have handy. This, of course, freaks out everyone and the place empties pretty quickly. Red doesn't seem to have one bit of self-control as he immediately acts on every given impulse.
The tied-up chick Chong and Red had walked in on decides to follow them where ever they go from this point forward. After causing a ruckus at some music store, they all follow some other chick home, which happens to be where that one guy who tied up the first chick lives. I assume he's the father of the second chick they just met. They are all greeted by the guy's wife, who has the thickest Minnesota accent you've ever heard. This lady isn't like other people. She seems to genuinely believe her visitors are the cowardly lion, Toto and Glenda, the good witch of the north... don't ask me! She has no idea who they are or why they are there, but for some reason, she is thrilled that they decided to drop by. After a bunch of singing, laughing and pot smoking, they all take a late-night drive and end up at a comedy show.
At the comedy show, the group runs into none other than dark Pee Wee himself, who is apparently moonlighting as a comedian. Funny, because this version of Pee Wee comes off like a miserable cunt with no sense of humor. Red being Red, he decides to heckle Pee Wee during his routine, angering him beyond words. First, Pee Wee challenges them to get on stage and see if they can do better. When that doesn't go to his liking, he tries getting them all kicked out, or in his words, "killed". As chaos ensues, Chong and Red hightail it and get separated from the others as well as their pot. Chong is not happy about this and insists they find more. What they end up finding makes me think Tommy Chong had no idea how to end this movie, because that was truly some random shit he came up with to wrap things up.
Cheech And Chong's Next Movie isn't like other movies. The story, if you can call it that, doesn't get started for a good 40 something minutes, and almost seems to abandon the familiar three act pattern most movies include. It was a bold move having Cheech and Chong separated for most of the movie, but worked since "Red" was really just Cheech in a wig with an obnoxious, Texas accent. The second half of the movie isn't completely devoid of Cheech as we go back and forth between Chong's and Red's shenanigans and Cheech waiting impatiently for his would-be fuck partner to arrive, which seems to take years. It's hard not to feel bad for him at times.By far my favorite of the Cheech And Chong series. This movie is a perfect representation of what pot smoking can do to one's thought process and life, especially if you consider the first movie. While Up In Smoke had a more clear cut premise and characters with specific goals, this sequel has more in common with someone who's been getting stoned non-stop for a couple of years. This one is dumber, trashier, all over the place, and in no hurry whatsoever to get started. Next Movie is very much in it's own little world. Unlike the more professional production of Up In Smoke, this actually feels like it was made by someone who was stoned off their ass the entire time. Perhaps it was. 7/10
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