Cheech and Chong - Up in Smoke
Credits Image: Imdb.com
Hey man! What the hell is fuckin' movie?
It is practically the duty of a citizen-cinephile to write about this work. Perhaps forgotten by the new generation, this film is almost older than walking forward. Yeah, not so much. If you are one of those who are always researching and digging through films, rarities, references and stories about the seventh art, I will probably seem redundant, but if you are a little “disconnected” from cinema, you are already making the style of the film.
Summarizing Cheech and Chong as just two clumsy, dumb hippie potheads is being too superficial and underestimating the importance of both. Importance for cinema, of course. Back in the late 70's, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong started a series of films about this liberal wave, which reflected mainly in the music scene and in the cinema. But of the more than ten films they made, I will only emphasize the first one, which is the most renowned and famous, and is decisive for whether you want to see the others or not.
Credits Image: Imdb.com
Up in Smoke (1978) is one of those idiotic movies that it's hard not to laugh. And no snickering, or thinking you're going to see the movie and just mentally figure out where the fun is. It's a real laugh, if you let yourself be carried away by the smoke wave of the guys. If the new generation liked Dumb and Dumber (Dumb And Dumber, 1994), know that they smoke and drink from the source of Cheech and Chong. For that, leave prejudice aside, and watch this old movie about two stoned stoners.
It all starts involuntarily, when De Pacas mistakes Man Stoner as a woman on the side of the road and decides to give him a ride. Realizing that this is a man even more bearded than he is, he doesn't hesitate to give him a ride. They get to know each other and realize their stupid affinities. That first big scene of the car is exceptionally well done, and it showcases the film's greatest genius. With well-constructed jokes and top-notch interpretive improvisations, they make their personalities clear, amid a lot of smoke, bullshit and intelligence. It's with a long opening scene that they make way for all the other idiocy. What is interesting and works as a motivator of these sequential and almost non-stop jokes is that the events are far from being “high confusion” style, and happen solely due to the convincing stupidity of the two.
Credits Image: Imdb.com
The performances are noteworthy. The facets, looks and laughs absurdly well interpreted and presented in images, are really worth more than any thousand innocent words that try to translate the moments in the scene. At first.
The absurd is present and active in the film, from the size of the joint they smoke to the ability to forget their own name and swallow acid instead of medicine. De Pacas (Cheech) is an American-Mexican, poor and who dedicates much of his time to adding tasteless decorations to his car, and Man (Chong) is a high-profile pothead.
Credits Image: Imdb.com
In these comedies starring imbecile duos, it is common to perceive the leadership of one over the other. However, this characteristic does not occur in Cheech and Chong, with levels of cluelessness that cancel each other out and intersperse moments of lucidity and madness.
The original ideas and script constructions are signed by the main actors themselves, in addition to directing the next films in the series. It is worth remembering that the names of the characters in the first feature are different from the other sequential films, Cheech Marin is Pedro de Pacas, and Tommy Chong is Anthony 'Man' Stoner. And it's only in subsequent films that they adopt part of their real names for the characters.
Credits Image: Imdb.com
His name is Raaaaaalph!
The situations faced by the characters deserve attention. The construction of the story does not focus on connecting the actions of the protagonists in the interest of giving the work a final meaning. The work is conducted with a focus on each random situation and, although very well thought out, at times the scenes lose their sense of connectivity with the story. Thus, the situations faced by them within a film itself or even in sequential films do not correspond to the logical explanations of the events. But it's an exaggeration to want something different, since the focus of the features is solely on the jokes. And then he's a beast.
For these and more reasons Cheech and Chong gained recognition and made a name for themselves in the comedy starring duos, parading with authority an enviable humour, of great creative and improvisational capacity. His works are worth checking out.
Credits Image: Imdb.com