a/k/a Tommy Chong (2008)

by | Sep 20, 2008 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

a/k/a Tommy Chong (2008)

Documentary by Josh Gilbert
Studio: Awesome Documentaries
Video: 4:3 color
Audio: PCM mono
Extras: oh wow man
Length: 80 minutes
Rating: ****

This worthwhile documentary has won audience awards and best documentary awards at several film festivals. It’s the story of half-Chinese comic Tommy Chong of the famous stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong, who was charged in a sting operation with shipping glass bongs to one of the two states which have laws forbidding the sale of pot paraphernalia.  It involved an early morning raid of his home and factory by 45 federal agents, helicopters and the whole SWAT team, and was part of the government’s $12 million drug paraphernalia sting operation titled “Operation Pipe Dreams.”

Chong had been criticizing Homeland Security policies and it appears that he became a scapegoat due to the tremendous influence Cheech and Chong had had on young people during their heyday. (Even though comics such as Red Skelton and W.C. Fields regularly portrayed irresponsible drinkers, they weren’t supposed to portray irresponsible smokers.) There were 55 defendants in the sting operation and Chong was the only one with absolutely no prior convictions, yet he was forced to serve nine months in federal prison. Since his release he has been speaking out about the large number of people in our overstocked prisons serving time for the most minor drug offenses.

Chong takes the shameless distortion of the judicial system surprisingly well, and since his release has turned the SWAT team arrest and his whole experience into hilarious standup material. The film uses clips from some of the duos’ movies, so those of us who never saw the crazy pair can grasp what their shtick was. Statements by celebrities such as Peter Coyote, Jay Leno, Bill Maher and Lou Adler add interest to the story.

 – John Sunier

 

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