CHEECH & CHONG’S LAST MOVIE

(director/writer: David Bushell; cinematographers: Michael Alden Lloyd, Peter Flinckenberg, Joe Cicio; editor: Brett Mason; music: David Palmer; cast: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong; Runtime: 120; MPAA Rating: R; producers: David Bushell, Robbi Chong; Bushell Productions/Keep Smokin’; 2024)

“It gave me a mellow high.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A nostalgic comedy/documentary on the legacy of the celebrated stoner duo directed by David Bushell, in his feature film debut. It gave me a mellow high for the ground-breaking stoners, who promoted smoking weed when it was illegal as a way of rebelling. The film uses archival film footage, film clips, interviews, talking heads, anecdotes and a staged set piece (showing the duo openly conversing about their partnership, as they drive in a vintage roadster in the desert looking for a mysterious place called “The Joint”). In this curious segment, they tell us about their unexpected rise to fame in the ’70s and ’80s (their glory years) and their falling out in the mid-80s over conflicting egos.

The 80-something senior citizens have reunited for the film.

If you respect what they did to help make weed legal, you’ll probably like the film. Others might not for various reasons. I think there’s no in-between–you either like them or don’t.

We note that the boys are a rare interracial celebrity stand-up comedy duo. Chong’s father is Chinese, his mother is white Canadian, and he lives in Vancouver. Cheech is of Mexican-American heritage, and is from Los Angeles. They met in Vancouver when Cheech fled America in the 1960s to avoid being drafted during the Viet-Nam War.  Both were aspiring musicians who were interested in doing stand-up comedy, and meet in an improv theater in Canada. The rest is movie history, as they say.

It played at the SXSW Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 5/10/2025  GRADE: B

dennisschwartzreviews.com