Cheech & Chong's Last Movie: Dave's Not Here, But Everyone Else Is
By Jim Slotek
Rating: B
As cutting-edge as weed humour was at Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s peak, theirs was a quick-hit, kitchen-sink approach to comedy for which you could probably draw a line all the way back to vaudeville.
Or maybe it was just pot-fueled short attention span theatre.
The main thing was it worked, to the extent that they made whole movies (Up in Smoke, Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie) with scenes that were improvised seemingly minutes after they’d thought them up while high.
The duo behind Basketball Jones. Read below for the reason for the Lakers’ warmup jacket.
Their creative process in action is just one of the cool archival treats in Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie, a jam-packed two hours of pop cultural hindsight that is part extended sketch, part couples therapy, and part traditional documentary.
The truest of fans will appreciate all three. Full disclosure: I bought their first album at 15 in the ‘70s, and my friends and I would play it and laugh until the grooves wore down. Years later, I fell out of love with their new stuff about the time that they fell out of love with each other. (I’ve since made a bit of an acquaintance of Tommy through multiple interviews and social events, and – full confession – even shared a joint with him once).
The movie, which covers their lives from childhood (Cheech in East L.A., Tommy in Edmonton), is wrapped around a desert road trip, where the now-aged duo are on a mission to meet up with a mysterious guy named – ahem – Dave, at a place called The Joint.
Worse, they have no pot. Happily, Tommy remembers he’d left a bag of extremely strong gummies wedged between the seats, and… we’re off!
The device provides an excuse for certain people in their past to show up as backseat hallucinations, including past and present wives and the record producer Lou Adler, who both kick-started their careers and, apparently, robbed them contractually. (The fact that the 91-year-old music legend happily took part is a classic case of bygones being bygones).
This extended bit is one reason Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie runs kind of long at two hours. The sheer volume of events in their lives, before and after fame, is another.
In the sea of facts and anecdotes that the doc offers up, my favourite involves the writing of the spoof song Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces. Apparently, the catalyst was Jack Nicholson dangerously driving the boys to a Lakers game, while Love Jones by Brighter Side of Darkness played on the radio. Cheech, who’d sing when nervous, started riffing the chorus as “Basketball Jones,” and Tommy, took out his notepad and started writing things down.
And their backstory is worth a movie in itself. Tommy had a previous career as an R&B guitarist for Bobby Taylor, and even co-wrote the hit Does Your Mama Know About Me?
During this time, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers were discovered by Diana Ross, who game them entry to Motown. In turn, Taylor discovered a pre-tween Michael Jackson and got him an audience with Motown founder Berry Gordy.
Tiring of the music business, he encountered the legendary San Francisco improv troupe The Committee and decided to do something similar in Vancouver under the roof of his strip club Shanghai Junk.
(We also see Chong admit that he and Cheech stole premises from The Committee, something that didn’t go unnoticed).
As for Cheech, he dodged the Vietnam draft, becoming a potter in Alberta, and making his way to Vancouver, where he and Tommy hit it off on the improv stage.
Maybe the least relevant part of the movie is the he-said/he-said of Cheech & Chong’s breakup, dustups they still manage to dredge up this many years later. Tommy wanted to direct, which made him Cheech’s boss. Tommy had a perception that Cheech was considered the talented one. Cheech had aspirations as an actor, serious rather than stoned.
Maybe it’s just as well that Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie was directed by David Bushell (producer of Sling Blade), taking at least one old grievance off the table.
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie. Directed by David Bushell. Starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. In theatres now.