Movie Review: Cheech & Chong: Up In Smoke (1978)

★★★★★

Man, Up In Smoke had me cracking up from start to finish. Cheech and Chong are just on another level. It’s ridiculous, it’s hilarious, and it never gets old.

Brian T.

New Mexico

If you talk about stoner comedies, Cheech & Chong: Up in Smoke (1978) isn’t just part of the conversation; it’s the movie that started the conversation. Long before Half Baked, Pineapple Express, or the endless parade of 4/20-friendly comedies, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong rolled out (pun fully intended) a low-budget buddy movie that somehow became a cultural touchstone.

But rewatching it today, I realized something: while the haze of pot smoke is the most obvious feature, Up in Smoke isn’t just about weed. It’s also a weirdly sweet, shambling road movie about two underachievers stumbling through the absurdities of late-70s Southern California. And beneath the slacker humor, there’s a snapshot of a subculture that Hollywood rarely got right back then.

The Premise – Simple as a Joint, Loose as the Smoke

If you’ve never seen it (or if you just forgot most of it for… reasons), the plot is about as simple as they come: Pedro de Pacas (Cheech) and Anthony “Man” Stoner (Chong) meet by chance, bond over a joint, and unknowingly end up smuggling a van made entirely out of marijuana from Mexico to Los Angeles with the world’s least competent narcotics officers hot on their trail.

There’s no heavy plotting, no real urgency. The movie drifts from gag to gag like two guys following wherever the munchies take them. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a lazy Sunday afternoon when you’ve got nowhere to be.

The Chemistry That Carries the Movie

This is where Up in Smoke really works. Cheech and Chong’s chemistry is so natural that it doesn’t feel like they’re acting. They riff, they react, they let jokes breathe. A lot of the comedy comes from their contrasting energies: Cheech is fast-talking, expressive, and impulsive, while Chong is slow-moving, spaced-out, and somehow always one step behind reality.

Many reviews focus on the drug humor, but for me, it’s their friendship that makes the movie work. These guys genuinely seem to enjoy each other’s company, and that warmth cuts through the haze.

A Time Capsule of 1978 California

One of the most overlooked aspects of Up in Smoke is how much of it functions as an accidental documentary of late-70s LA counterculture. The clothing, the cars, the music, the little background details, they’re all authentically of the moment.

You’re not just watching a comedy; you’re getting a tour of Venice Beach, East LA, and the grimy corners of Hollywood as they really looked in that era. The soundtrack (featuring Cheech & Chong themselves along with War) is pure West Coast funk and rock, adding to the authenticity.

The Low-Budget Freedom

This movie had a budget of about $2 million, peanuts even in 1978. That low budget meant two things:

1. They had to rely on improv and comedic timing instead of elaborate set pieces.

2. The whole thing has a scrappy, handmade feel that big studio comedies just can’t replicate.

The improv gives the movie unpredictability. Jokes don’t always land where you expect them to, and sometimes the funniest moments are little background throwaways like a cop trying to be intimidating but breaking into a smile mid-scene.

It’s Funnier Than People Give It Credit For

Some modern viewers dismiss Up in Smoke as just a string of pot jokes, but that’s underselling it. Yes, the drug humor is front and center, but there’s also a lot of absurdist comedy here: mistaken identities, ridiculous cop stakeouts, and musical numbers that come out of nowhere (Cheech’s stage outfit in the “Battle of the Bands” finale is burned into my brain forever).

The humor is broad, but it’s never mean-spirited. Even the “villains” like the bumbling Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach) is more cartoonish than threatening.

What Most Reviews Don’t Talk About

Something I rarely see mentioned in other reviews: Up in Smoke quietly captures the immigrant and working-class experience in LA during the 70s, even if it’s filtered through stoner comedy. Pedro’s family scenes, the East LA neighborhood vibes, and the mix of cultures on display feel genuine in a way most Hollywood comedies of the time didn’t bother with.

It’s also worth noting that this was a movie made for the counterculture, not about it from an outsider’s perspective. Cheech & Chong weren’t actors cast to play stoners; they were comedians who’d been building this act in clubs for years. The authenticity shows.

Final Thoughts

As a personal reviewer for Box Review, I’d say Up in Smoke is one of those movies that works best if you let it wash over you. Don’t expect a tightly structured plot; expect vibes, riffs, and the kind of humor that feels like it was born out of real conversations between two friends.

It’s easy to see why it became a cult hit: it’s a hangout movie before “hangout movies” were a thing. You spend 86 minutes with Pedro and Man, and by the end, you almost wish you could jump in that marijuana van and go along for the ride.

Even if you’ve never touched the stuff, Up in Smoke is a funny, oddly comforting time capsule from an era when comedies could be this loose and still become legends.