Up in Smoke (1978)
★★½ — Up in Smoke (1978)
Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong had already built a devoted following through a string of comedy albums in the early-to-mid 1970s, so Up in Smoke was less a discovery than a delivery mechanism for an audience that already knew exactly what it was getting. Lou Adler, better known as a music producer (he worked with Carole King and organised the Monterey Pop Festival), made his feature directing debut here, which perhaps explains the loose, almost improvisational rhythm of the whole thing. Paramount picked it up for wide release, and on a modest budget it returned over forty million dollars at the box office, effectively proving that the stoner comedy could sustain a feature film and launching a franchise that would run through most of the following decade.
I haven't smoke in about 12 years. I definitely rated it higher back then. Up in Smoke isn’t so much a movie as it is a 90-minute excuse to smoke a joint and laugh at the same joke over and over. Cheech and Chong basically built a cult classic out of bad impressions, sketch comedy pacing, and an endless supply of weed gags. If you’re deep in that stoner culture, this is sacred text. It's funny, rebellious, and totally in on the joke. The van made of marijuana is the icon. It’s dumb in the way it’s supposed to be, and there’s a certain charm in how little it cares about plot or logic. But if you’re not high (or haven’t been for a while) it kind of just… sits there. The jokes are one-note, the acting’s loose to the point of laziness, and the whole thing feels more like a series of riffs than an actual film. What feels hilarious at 2am with red eyes can feel flat and repetitive the next day sober. It’s not bad, per se (it’s harmless, silly, and has its moments) but it doesn’t exactly hold up as cinema. It’s a product of its time and scene: if you’re in that scene, you’ll love it. If not, it’s just… fine. More of a vibe than a movie, but hey, sometimes that’s enough.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 1978 | Watched: 2025-09-04
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Related on Movies With Macca
More with Cheech Marin: Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
