Things Are Tough All Over (1982)

Director:

Thomas K. Avildsen

Writers:

Tommy Chong (writer) and
Cheech Marin (writer)

Release Date:

4 August 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Action

Tagline:

A High Flying Comedy.

Plot:

Cheech and Chong work briefly as car wash attendants and musicians before being hired to drive a car from Chicago to Las Vegas...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Illegal Alien | Pornography | Female Nudity | Las Vegas Nevada

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Toni Attell	...	Cocktail Waitress
Mike Bacarella	...	Cop in Laundromat
Billy Beck	...	Pop, Manager Red Wagon Adult Motel
Don Bovingloh	...	Maitre D'
Richard 'Moon' Calhoun	...	Drummer
Tommy Chong	...	Himself / Prince Habib
Jennifer Condos	...	Bass Player
John Corrona	...	St. Louis Biker
Dave Coulier	...	Man with Tongue in Restaurant (as David Couwlier)
Shelby Chong	...	French Girl #1 (as Shelby Fiddis)
Aaron Freeman	...	Cop in Ghetto
Mike Friedman	...	Car Rental Agent
Evelyn Guerrero	...	Donna, Cheech's Friend smuggling illegals
Maya Harman	...	Belly Dancer
Vanaghan S. Housepian	...	Henchman

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

C & C Brown Production

Trivia:

The fifth of seven Cheech and Chong movies starring the comedy duo Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.

Quotes:

Chong: Sometimes it's not even the drugs that'll kill you man. What really kills you is looking for drugs.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Chilly Winds

This is funny and engaging all over

Cheech and Chong are back in such strong form here that it makes me wonder if I shouldn't reevaluate the previous film, Nice Dreams (1981), which seemed like a misstep to me on my last viewing.

Of course, there are some major differences with Things are Tough All Over. For Nice Dreams, Cheech and Chong took the ultimate stoner/slacker route and made a film with little plot or direction. It seemed like they were engaging in the same behavior offscreen as on and just and playing around with loose, rough ideas. Maybe they also wondered what the heck they had done when later watching Nice Dreams (or watching the box office returns), because for Things are Tough All Over, they took an entirely different path and crafted an intricately structured comic misadventure where they play two interweaving sets of characters--Cheech and Chong, of course, and Mr. Slyman (Cheech) and Prince Habib (Chong), Arab brothers who serve as Cheech and Chong's employers in various guises.

The script for Things are Tough All Over may have been something Cheech and Chong were working on for awhile. The basic subtext (as reflected in the title) is the recession during the Carter years in the U.S. Slyman and Habib represent the flipside of the gas crisis (which is both metaphorically and literally in the plot at the same time in interesting and funny ways, even including flatulence jokes), and their prosperity as well as Cheech and Chong's role in the climax and denouement of the film represent the change of economic and social climate of the Reagan years. This may be reading a bit too heavily into the film, but to some extent, these themes were definitely intentional.

Not that this is a serious film. The gags here are on par with Up in Smoke (1978). And given the engaging misadventure/road-movie plot, the gags have a purpose that makes them that much better. Things are Tough All Over is also unusual in that it's the first Cheech and Chong film that's not focused on drugs. Not that I dislike drug humor (or the idea of drug use), but not _having_ to make this film about drugs opens up the door for Cheech and Chong to focus on comedy for its own sake. They go with material because it's going to be funny, and their timing is exquisitely on--they know just how far they can milk any particular joke for maximum effect.