After years of success as part of the comedy team Cheech and Chong, Tommy Chong goes it alone with this film, and as bad as FAR OUT MAN is cinematically, it's still not entirely unwatchable. Chong is a tremendously untalented filmmaker, but at least he knows that's the case (indeed the
opening credit reads "A Tommy Chong Attempt"), and his first solo project is charmingly unpretentious. All those involved with the project (the cast seems to include the entire Chong family) are seemingly unaware that they are making a major film, and the result is a sloppy but oddly refreshing
movie.
FAR OUT MAN tells the story of a hippie (played by Chong) who, although incredibly rich, is lost in today's society. He still smokes pot, talks about karma, and uses phrases like "Far out, man," while wandering through his broken-down amusement park, once known as Hippie Land. Deserted by his
second wife after he threw her out of their rock band, Far Out Man repeatedly embarrasses his daughter, actress Rae Dawn Chong (Chong's real-life daughter, playing herself), by making unannounced visits to her movie sets. Lamenting the loss of his wife, Tree (Chong's real-life wife, Shelby),
longing for the days when life was simpler (and marijuana was cheaper), Far Out Man is a total mess. But when Rae Dawn calls in a psychiatrist (Martin Mull), her father's life begins to change. Under hypnosis he comes to believe that he is once again in his youth, doing what he loves most--acting
as a roadie for rock bands. Far Out Man's adventures on the road lead to a reunion with Tree, who has been living with actor C. Thomas Howell (played, of course, by C. Thomas Howell), and to a meeting with the aging roadie's estranged teenage son (Paris Chong). The film ends with a rock concert
featuring the entire Chong clan, the ultimate family activity.
Needless to say, plot is nowhere to be found in this mess, and many of the scenes seem to have been improvised. Moreover, the direction is flat (at times nonexistent), the photography dull, and the editing atrocious. In fact, the technical quality of the film is so bad that occasionally FAR OUT
MAN threatens to disappear from the screen. Still, this badly made movie is not entirely without merit.
First of all, it's funny. Sometimes the humor is crude, other times it is unintentional, but the film is funny. The performers are so likable and relaxed that the worst jokes remain amusing (even lighting farts with a match gets a laugh), and only Tommy Chong could make a funny bit out of a drug
overdose. Part of the charm of Cheech and Chong's extremely successful 1980s movies was the same lack of organization on display in FAR OUT MAN (oddly, Chong demonstrated more personality as a director in those films than he does here). Of course, it didn't hurt that Cheech and Chong are also two
very funny guys.
Essentially, FAR OUT MAN plays like a Cheech and Chong movie without Cheech, who makes only a cameo appearance. But it is also a strikingly personal film in which Chong admits that his worldview is outdated and acknowledges that his former partner has gone on to much greater success than he has.
(Cheech directed and starred in the well-received BORN IN EAST L.A., a sharper, more amusing film than this one. In fact, during Cheech's weird cameo in FAR OUT MAN, he looks directly at the camera and says, "Why am I doing this? I got development deals all over town!") But despite the personal
nature of the film, Chong wanders aimlessly from one gag to the next without contemplating any of them.
The performances are uniformly funny. Tommy, Shelby, Paris, and Rae Dawn all have some nice moments, but they are upstaged in their own "home movie!" by the supporting players. Bobby Taylor, Reynaldo Rey, and Mull are all very amusing. However, this movie is stolen by Howell, who plays a
screamingly funny parody of himself. His image as a "Brat Packer" is demolished in some of the funniest moments of the film year. Sporting a goofy-looking goatee and ridiculously fancy clothes, he egotistically rants and raves about not getting a part that was promised to him, and later has a
wonderfully funny scene with Judd Nelson (as himself) in which Howell names all of the films he has appeared in, hoping that Nelson will recognize him. And when Nelson--who still doesn't know who Howell is--recognizes Tree from a cheap slasher movie, Howell castigates Nelson for having seen that
movie but not RED DAWN. This is truly funny stuff. A strange little movie, FAR OUT MAN is a must-see for Cheech and Chong fans. (Profanity, brief nudity, substance abuse.) leave a comment