Far Out Man
The first thing that must be stated here is that if you are NOT a fan of Tommy Chong or the work he did with Cheech Marin, you’re probably not gonna like this film, Chong’s big “solo project” after the breakup of their legendary comedy team. If you do enjoy his previous work though, there’s quite a bit to be said for this stoner “home movie”, featuring some good bits and a slew of cameos. Chong basically plays himself here, a rich, bored hippie visited by his daughter (Rae Dawn Chong) and a greedy shrink played by Martin Mull and given the character name Dr. Liddledick. After taking about ten minutes, the film really gets going with some funny flashbacks, though the “Hippieland” animated sequence runs out of gas quickly. Chong takes off to work as a roadie and soon finds himself reunited with his old girlfriend and his son, who are now living with C. Thomas Howell, doing perhaps one of the most over the top self-parodies in screen history, and getting some laughs of his own, especially in his temper tantrum in a police station. It should be noted that Chong’s real-life wife and son, Shelby Chong and Paris Chong, are absolutely DREADFUL actors here, even if Shelby has a great body. The cameos range from pretty blah (Paul Bartel’s New Age teacher, Michael Winslow doing a dumb version of Larvell Jones), to fairly interesting, such as Cheech’s 15-second bit and Judd Nelson showing up as himself to diss Howell (kinda ironic that Judd is portrayed as being a “real movie star” next to C. Thomas, yet both would see their careers in the shitter as the years went on). Along the way we get to see Chong involved in a brawl outside a truckstop diner, and walk into a pharmacy asking to buy some coke (probably the funniest bit). The show is nearly stolen by Reynaldo Rey as a sleazy road manager, and Chong’s old music partner Bobby Taylor shows up to lend support along with some welcome nudity from Playmate Peggy McIntaggart as a groupie (who is inexplicably matched up with Chong’s underage son), plus a short performance scene from 80s hair metal band Dokken. As you’ve probably figured out here, this is quite an uneven concoction of a comedy, and for the most part, having a fondness for Chong’s style of humor (as I do) is necessary to enjoy this, so while not reaching the riotous heights that the best C&C work attained, there’s still a good amount of laugh-out-loud moments to keep the viewer entertained…
7/10