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Movie Recap : FAR OUT MAN
Posted by MMN on July 18th 2004

FAR OUT MAN - 1990
Starring : Tommy Chong, C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Cheech Marin, and Martin Mull
Written and Directed by : Tommy Chong
Total US gross : $82,000

Now, I'm all for free DVDs, but this one is going to be tough to get through. I've only seen one Cheech and Chong movie before, Up in Smoke, and since I wasn't high when I watched it the humor didn't really appeal to me. And since I won't be high during the review of this movie, I doubt I'll find much of the gags all that funny. From what I can tell, this is pretty much a solo project from Chong with only a small part played by Cheech, which is sort of like dating a girl who has ass but no tits. Sure, you can get by on it, but you definitely notice that something is missing.

Bombsquad tells me this movie's tag line was "No Brain, No Pain". He also said I should mention that Dokken, some faggy Sweedish metal band was in it. I bet you feel all educated now.

We start off with some frying pans dropping in a kitchen and already this movie is funnier than Dirty Work. Hey, it's Tommy Chong, and he's sporting the Brendan Fraiser haircut from Encino Man. Chong, or the "Far Out Man", is cooking some breakfast and making a mess. Oh the hilarity.

Interrupting the comedy-fest, we see Chong's daughter and Martin Mull driving up to visit the Far Out Man. We learn that Chong is rich (yep, it's definitely a movie) from getting hit by a Rolls Royce a few years ago. He didn't suffer any injuries besides brain damage. Good for him.

Back at the Chong estate we're still running with the whole "Chong can't cook breakfast without making a mess" joke.

Mull and the daughter finally arrive to meet the Far Out Man, who is currently blasting his music so loud introductions can't be made. Chong turns his music down (by telling the live band who is playing it to shut up) and meets Mull, or "Dr. Littledick". And with that I'm already searching for my stash of Cyanide. Well, with a name like "Littledick" we know Barbwire Mike wouldn't like this character. Heh, I'm already funnier than this movie.

We head to a High School of some sorts and watch a blonde hottie having a conversation with the Principal. Apparently her son is becoming a problem and he thinks it's a good idea for blonde hottie to contact the father. The only problem is that blonde hottie hasn't seen the father in 10 years. Drama.

And we're back to Chong, who is being hypnotized by Martin Mull. In one of the lamest moments I've ever seen in a "comedy", Martin Mull turns to the camera while he's hypnotizing Chong and goes "you will like this movie and tell all your friends about it". At this point I punched the TV, which didn't really do Martin Mull any harm but it sure made me feel better. Chong, meanwhile, feels sleepy and is asked to give the first word that pops into his head. Of course he replies with "pussy" even though no words have been said yet, just because that's the least funny thing you could possibly do at that moment. So Mull begins with the first word :

Dog.

Chong - "Tree"

Slimy.

Chong - "Tree"

Jesus

Chong - "Tree"

Mull asks what kind of tree this is, and Chong explains the blonde hottie. We head into a flashback of where Chong first met the hottie, apparently in a band with a black guy wearing a fake afro as the lead singer. Black Fro wants the hottie fired and asks Chong to do something about her. So he does the only logical thing that can be done, he bangs her. Afterwards he tells her she's not in the band anymore. In response to this news, she takes some scissors and cuts the patches off of his jeans - jeans that, apparently, Chong is still wearing today. Mull has him go further into his memories and Chong reveals that after hottie left he opened "hippy land". Hippy Land is shown as a poorly made cartoon that would've looked bad in the 70's, yet here we have on a movie made in 1990. I bet those animators got their asses beat for that shitfest of a cartoon.

Back to reality as Mull has Chong put on a helmet which measures his brainwave activities. And the joke here is that Chong has no brainwave activities. My sides hurt from laughter. Mull says his problems (whatever they are) could be solved by getting a job. Chong's reply - "a BLOWJOB?". Mull says he's not qualified for much since he tested somewhere between "plankton" and "toaster". That leaves only 4 jobs for Chong - "boat anchor", "politician", "lawyer" (HAHA HEBNER), or "roadie". Chong decides to become a roadie (shocking) and Mull tells him he'll need a check for $20,000 for his services. Maybe he should've given Chong that blowjob for that price.

Mull heads to the living room to grab a guitar for Chong, but the guitar has a short in it and Mull gets electrocuted. The animated lightning around the guitar just about says it all. Chong hands Mull the check and it ends up only being for twenty dollars. We know this because Mull gets bug eyed and screams out "TAHWENTY DOLLAHRS?!?!?!" as though Chong disappeared off the face of the planet and there's no way for him to tell Chong that he made the check out in the wrong amount.

We're introduced to Bill the dog as Chong is giving him their "last meal for a while" as he's going on the road. He's cooking a can of Hormel Chilli and Alpo at the same time and puts them on two plates when they're done. And being that it has to be unfunny, he forgets which one is which, and has the dog decide for him. Just for that added secondary laugh Chong lets out a little fart.

Blonde hottie (Tree) talks to her son and tells him he needs to do better in school. The son is one of the worst actors I've seen in any movie, including "The Killer Eye" and the Troma movie Mike sent me last year. When Troma movies have better acting than yours, you know you're in trouble.

And we head back to see Chong getting in his dusty semi truck ready to head out to be a roadie. He finds a roach in his car (I think it's the one they used in Up In Smoke - the really large one full of dog shit) and says he'll save it for later. He gets lost and holds up a map of Europe looking for directions. He finds a guy stranded on the side of the road and gets directions.

Tree, her boyfriend, and the bad actor head to a rock show to dance like retards. And, in a shocking coincidence, Chong shows up at that very show to be the roadie for the "Fartz". Outside, the bad actor accidentally knocks over a motorcycle in the parking lot and has to run when the bikers get pissed at him. He ends up hiding in Chong's semi truck while I contemplate smashing my fingers with a hammer so I have an excuse as to why I didn't review this movie.

Inside the gig Chong is told the show is over, he's too late, but he is welcome to be the roadie for the next show up in Fresno. So he takes off towards Fresno, unaware that the bad actor is asleep in the back of his semi truck.

In the truck Chong starts to fall asleep while driving and Cheech shows up out of fucking nowhere and tells him to watch the road before they get killed. Now, this is the high point of the movie, the moment all the Cheech and Chong fans have been waiting for, and what is Chong's reply to Cheech's sudden appearance?

"CHEECH?!"

Suddenly I'm very happy that Chong was thrown in jail.

Chong decides to pull over to take a leak. Bad actor decides he needs to piss, too. So they're both out peeing, Chong on the truck, bad actor all over his own socks, when Chong finishes and starts to drive away. Bad actor runs after the truck and jumps on the side, hanging off. He manages to get in the truck and Chong tells him that if he heads to Fresno with him they'll go back to bad actor's home (in the Palasades) the next day.

The next morning Tree leaves the venue where the Fartz played and is upset that she can't find her son. Maybe next time you won't take your 14 year old to a rock show and stay until 8 in the morning you dumb bitch.

Chong and bad actor decide to stop at a diner to get something to eat. Bad actor borrows a quarter from Chong to call his mom, then asks to make a collect call when he gets on the phone, which makes no sense to me. He tells Tree he's heading to Fresno and he'll be home in a day. And much like Barbwire Mike, bad actor doesn't know the name of the guy he's currently with.

In the diner Chong decides to change the music on the jukebox, which angers an Indian, and the two get into a nonsensical fight. Somehow Chong ends up riding him like a horse as the onslaught of funny continues to pummel me. If this movie is so funny why do I feel like crying right now?

Tree and her boyfriend take off from a private plane towards Fresno to look for bad actor. The boyfriend tells Tree he hired the best detective in Fresno to search for the kid. I'm thinking the detective will be Nick Nolte, after all, bad actors can usually sense each other. Quickening ++.

Chong arrives at the gig where the Fartz are playing and one of the guys tells him to get some coke so they could all do some blow. Chong, being the genius that he is, heads to a 24 hour pharmacy to try and get some drugs. He asks the pharmacist for some coke, so the pharmacist asks him if he'd like a straw with it. "Yeah man", is Chong's ALMOST enthusiastic reply. Now, here's the joke....get ready. The pharmacist gives him a can of Coca-Cola with a straw.

And with that we have the funniest joke so far.

......

Take a moment to let that sink in.

.....

When Chong asks again for coke and does the snort motion, the pharmacist explains to him that it's illegal. So Chong asks for anything that could be turned into a white powder and ends up with aspirin. The band member who sent Chong on the coke quest ends up snorting it and loving it and begins acting all high and crazy, saying it's the greatest shit he's ever had.

Tree, meanwhile, is meeting with the detective who is, sadly, not played by Nick Nolte. The detective has no leads so Tree throws him off the case.

Back to Chong who is picking up a groupie chick. They head to the motel where the band is staying for a late night party. Bad actor ends up getting a crazy green spikey hairdo from one of the groupie chicks while Chong takes a bath with one of them. And FINALLY we see some tits in what is, by far, the best part of the movie so far.

We go to the motel room with the guy who snorted the aspirin. He's "overdosed" on it and his heart has stopped beating. Chong shows up (THANK GOD!) and uses the guitar that shocked Martin Mull earlier to shock the overdosed retard. And yes, the animated lightning bolts are in full effect here.

Chong, sent back to L.A. by the aspirin lover, stops on the way to pick up a half naked hitchiker guy. Wait, are we still in Far Out Man or has this switched to Barbwire Mike's fantasty tape? Oh wait, there's a chick, nevermind - it's definitely Far Out Man.

Anyway, Chong runs into his daughter who tells him she saw Tree on TV and she's going to be at the airport. She suggests Chong goes and gets her but there's one problem, Chong's semi truck stalls. So he borrows a car and heads towards the airport. But first he has to stop at a toy store to buy a toy for his unseen child whom Tree took off with oh so many years ago. He settles on a toy gun but the store owner convinces him to buy a bunch of real guns instead. Why Chong goes along with this is beyond me...

So now Chong is running around the airport with all this weaponry strapped to him. He's not actually IN the airport, rather he's on the runway pretending to shoot his guns and his rocket launcher. He runs into the guy who makes funny noises from Police Academy and suddenly a black hole of unfunny opens up in the movie and begins sucking everything in.

Gunfire errupts and Chong jumps in a tow truck and takes off. On the same road Chong is driving Tree and her boyfriend are stranded in a broken down Corvette. And here we go, Chong meets up with Tree again after all these long years. Chong explains he never came after Tree when she left because he didn't know her last name, as though there are thousands of people in the world named "Tree". Tree gets angry for some reason and takes off again.

Chong goes back to see his daughter who advises him to go back after Tree AGAIN. Chong accidentally trips and falls down the side of a cliff instead. Can you tell I'm trying to wrap this up quickly? This is two hours of my life I REALLY wish I had back.

Back at Tree's place, Judd Nelson shows up fresh from detention. The maid confuses him for Charlie Sheen as the movie drags on...and on...and on.

Somehow Tree finds out Chong fell down a cliff and her and bad actor make their way to the hospital to visit him. The joke in the hospital is a black man dressed as a female nurse. Tree and Chong end up back together (after Chong says she can be in his new band....with the mic ON this time!) and bad actor finds out Chong is his dad. Chong and bad actor race through the hospital in wheechairs and Chong ends up falling down a staircase. He then looks at the camera and exclaims "that was FAR OUT MAN!". Clever.

We end with a "music video" of Chong's new band performing the opening theme song while all the actors in the movie dance around in the background.

Let's see what the fine reviewers from Amazon.com had to say about FAR OUT MAN :

Far Out Man-Far Out!, July 11, 2004 - by Tommy Chong

Far Out Man is not a bad movie. I enjoyed it a lot (maybe because I was in it). If you are looking for an in depth plot, or even a "Cheech and Chong" THIS IS NOT THE MOVIE FOR YOU. But if you are just looking for a light laugh, hey man, this is a funny one. If you are a Chong fan (or are Tommy) like me, this movie has most of Chong's family in it. This movie's a "heavy hitter". Hope this helped.

Well this proves Tommy Chong uses the internet. Now I'm starting to suspect that he was really Meogie.

Stupid..., December 28, 2003 - by saksta

Just another one of those low budget, stupid stoner movies. My buddy let me have it for a day, and I was pretty bored watching it. There were a few funny scenes, but for the most part a very crummy movie. Nothign Nothing like Cheech and Chong. Don't waste your money.

His buddy "let him have it" for a day. And yes, you guessed it, his buddy is Barbwire Mike

I agree....., May 5, 2003 - by Sandra Jahanian

Ben Miller needs to lighten up. First of all sherlock, there's so many people with the same last name because it's really chongs family. He sort of mixes his real life into a fictional plot. It's not meant to be anything scientific as you may have expected, just a fun movie about hippie culture(which you don't seem to know a lot about, or you'd get the movie more) But there is a lot of clever satire throughout the film, maybe if you paid attention, ya know? open your mind a bit, man.

I think it's funny that "you don't know a lot about hippie culture" is used as an insult by this person. Wow, you sure got him!

This movie is a real embarassment - by Ben Miller

I just saw this film on WGN. I think Tommy Chong should be totally ashamed of this movie. I enjoyed him in Cheech & Chong, particularly their first two movies, Up in Smoke, and Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, but I really thought they went totally off track with the Corsican Brothers, then after the release of "Born in East L.A." in 1985 (the song, not the movie that came out in 1987), they parted ways. As far as I'm concerned, Far Out Man, from 1990, is little more than a movie that's trying to be disgusting just to be disgusting. Tommy Chong plays this unbathed hippie that seems to have never heard of a shower or soap. He gets hypnotized by a therapist so he can go on the road as a roadie. He dates this blonde who wants her son to not like reading and Beethoven and live more wild (this is teenage rebellion in reverse, because it's usually the parents who want their kids to read and listen to Beethoven, not the other way around). Cheech Marin makes a brief appearence on this film, which is nice to see, but I'd be much happier if they got together on a permanent basis. Also what really ruins the movie is the really bad acting and incoherant plot. All the actors and acting are totally unbelievable. The hairstyle, in that 1980s style, is totally atrocious. But I dug up some info about this movie, and I didn't quite realize how many Chongs are on this film. There is Tommy Chong, of course. There is Rae Dawn Chong, Shelby Chong, and even Paris Chong. I never knew a movie that had so many actors with the same last names as this one. I know there are bad movies that are charmingly bad, like Hell Comes to Frogtown with Roddy Piper, but Far Out Man is just plain bad and gives hippies everywhere a real bad name. I guess I would rate this higher if the acting was better, and the people, particularly Tommy Chong was better groomed. I know the old Cheech & Chong flicks, like Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980) were disgusting at times, but nowhere as bad as Far Out, Man. If you want to see a hippie-oriented flick that came out around the same time as Far Out Man, try Flashback

The fact that you've actually seen TWO "hippie movies" makes me want to find you and punch you in the throat.

So there you go, the Amazon.com people agree - this movie sucks and isn't worth the $5 they're charging for it at Wal-Mart.

Before he sent me this movie I only slightly hated Jun Bakon. Now I'm thinking of driving to Portland and taking a dump on his front porch.

- MMN

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