Up in smoke
That's where my money goes
In my lungs
And sometimes up my nose
When troubled times
Begin to bother me
I take a toke
And all my cares
Go up in smoke.
Up in Smoke is a 1978 Stoner Flick written by and starring Cheech & Chong; Lou Adler is credited as director, but Tommy Chong directed significant parts of it without credit.
The plot meanders quite a bit as it follows the two as they search for ways to score marijuana. Along the way, they are pursued by a set of highly incompetent drug agents led by Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach) who are trying to intercept a van made of pure "plasticized" marijuana that the duo are driving unawares.
The film is notable for being the first feature film starring Cheech and Chong and was a financial success with much of its revenue, perhaps surprisingly, coming from Texas and Canada.
This movie contains examples of:
- The Alleged Car: Chong's VW Beetle (with the Rolls Royce hood). It doesn't even make it past the first five minutes of the film.
- Battle of the Bands: Where Cheech, Chong and their band eventually end up... "Rock Fight Of The Century" at the Roxy.
- Butt-Monkey: Sgt. Stedanko
- Cool Car: Pedro's Love Ma-cheen!
- Disguised in Drag: How Man hitches a ride with Pedro.Pedro: Hey, you ain't a chick!
Man: Yeah, I know. But listen, that's the only way I can get anybody to stop, man. - Everybody Must Get Stoned: The DEA agents who are chasing them eventually get high when a vehicle made out of marijuana starts smoking while they're standing next to it.
- Hollywood Nuns: A car full of them at the Mexican border, who Stedanko's squad mistakenly bust for weed smuggling.
- Immune to Drugs: Chong's character, Man, doesn't get a buzz from a joint that sets everyone else on their ear.
- Jive Turkey: Curtis, my man.
- Mistaken for Toilet: In the opening scene, a stoned Pedro pees in a laundry hamper in a bathroom across from the toilet.
- Ms. Fanservice: One of the female hitchhikers is clearly not wearing a bra... and at one point does a little Toplessness from the Back.
- Mundane Object Amazement: Man is very impressed by Pedro's utterly crappy car and its cheesy stylings.
- No Name Given: Man's real name is Anthony Stoner. His first name is mentioned by his parents in his opening scene, but everyone else just calls him 'Man'.
- Not What It Looks Like: People think that Man is having energetic sex with a woman in a van when, in fact, she's just describing a friend's sexual encounter with some very enthusiastic sound effects.
- "Hey, I didn't know your name was Alex."
- Potty Emergency: Pedro's struck with one inside the "upholstery" plant.
- Punishment Box: The back seat of Sgt Stedanko's car serves as one for his incompetent and clueless subordinates.
- Real Vehicle Reveal: At the beginning of the film, Man appears to be driving a Rolls-Royce, only for the camera to pan out and reveal a Volkswagen Beetle - with a Rolls-Royce grille attached to the front.
- Running Gag: Getting a whiff of the super-potent weed truck leads to the munchies. Not even Stedanko's squad is safe in the end.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Played for laughs when Pedro takes Man to meet his cousin Strawberry.
- Shout-Out:
- At one point, Cheech is reenacting dialogue from the Laurel and Hardy movie Saps at Sea.
- The song "Star Star" from The Rolling Stones' Goats Head Soup is playing on a record, until the record skips and repeats the line "Star Fucker, Star" ad infinitum.
- Pedro proclaims that the band will be bigger than Ruben and the Jets, Frank Zappa's fictional Doo Wop band.
- Stoners Are Funny: This should go without saying.
- Stoner Flick: The Trope Maker.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Strawberry catches Man looking at his birthmark.Strawberry: Whatcha lookin' at, Man?
Man: Oh, uh, nothing! I wasn't looking, I was just—I wasn't looking at his neck, man. - Vanity License Plate: Pedro's Car: MUF DVR (A euphemism for oral sex on a woman.)
- The Weed Van: YESCA (Chicano slang for marijuana.)
- Watch It Stoned: Played straight as well as averted in the scene where Cheech has way too much of a very powerful joint and, as a consequence, suffers intense paranoia.
