--- title: "Up in Smoke" year: 1978 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/up-in-smoke" fi1m_id: "up-in-smoke" imdb_id: "tt0078446" tmdb_id: 11455 wikidata_id: "Q1381289" fi1m_score: 56 critics_score: 54 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-09-26T00:30:27.702109+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T00:30:39.500783+00:00" region: "DE" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Up in Smoke (1978) Directed by Lou Adler · 1h 26m · FSK 18 · Adventure, Comedy ## Identity Up in Smoke - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/up-in-smoke - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** up-in-smoke - **IMDb ID:** tt0078446 - **TMDB ID:** 11455 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1381289 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11455, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1381289 **Fi1m score: 56** · Critics 54 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* Two men, a joint the size of a rolling pin, and 86 minutes of waiting to see if a punchline turns up > Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong wrote themselves a film and Lou Adler mostly let them do what they liked in front of a camera. In a two-shot they are funny; whenever the film has to move them somewhere, it stalls. Good company, thin picture. ## Synopsis Los Angeles, the late 1970s. Man (Tommy Chong), a long-haired drummer, is thrown out of his wealthy parents’ house by Mr. Stoner (Strother Martin) and Tempest Stoner (Edie Adams), who want him in a job or in military school. Pedro (Cheech Marin), a lowrider from East Los Angeles, picks him up hitchhiking, having mistaken him for a woman. In the car, Man produces a joint the size of a rolling pin, and the two of them smoke it until an officer (Arthur Roberts) pulls them over. They land in front of Judge Gladys Dykes (Marian Beeler), who is drinking something from the water pitcher that is not water. Pedro wants to get his band together and find some decent weed; Man just wants somewhere to be. Neither is in a hurry. ## Review Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong wrote *Up in Smoke* for themselves, and it shows in the best and the worst sense. The film runs 86 minutes and roughly half of that is the two of them in a parked car, a cell or a doorway, talking slowly. The other half is what the film calls a plot: a rich boy thrown out by his parents, a hitchhike, an arrest, a court date, and later a long drive we will not describe in detail. The talking is the point. The plot is there to move them between conversations. The opening is the film at its most organised. Man (Chong) is given his marching orders by Mr. Stoner (Strother Martin) and Tempest Stoner (Edie Adams), who want him in a job or in military school, and Martin plays the ultimatum dead straight to a son who is plainly listening to something else. Then Pedro (Marin) pulls up, takes the long-haired figure at the roadside for a woman, and the double act begins. Man produces a joint the size of a rolling pin. Pedro asks what is in it and is told mostly Maui Wowie, with some Labrador, because the dog ate the stash. We laughed at the Labrador, properly and without shame. It was a while before we laughed again. Twenty minutes later, watching the pair stare at a wall while nothing happened, we were bored, and then slightly cross about it, because the scene had no joke in it and nobody on either side of the camera seemed to have noticed. Marin and Chong’s timing comes from years of doing this in front of audiences, and it is real; the pause before Chong answers a question is funnier than most of the answers. But a pause needs something on either side of it, and the script keeps forgetting to supply the second half. The court scene shows what they can do when a sketch is properly built. Judge Gladys Dykes (Marian Beeler) presides while drinking steadily from a pitcher that is not holding water, the bailiff (Donald Hotton) and the prosecuting attorney (John Ian Jacobs) try to keep the case upright, and Pedro treats the whole thing as a mild inconvenience between him and lunch. It has a shape, a build and an exit. The film has perhaps three scenes like it and needed eight. Gene Polito shoots it in flat Los Angeles daylight, forecourts and freeways and stucco, the light doing nothing in particular, and it looks like a television programme of the period, which suits the material and does not help it. Scott Conrad’s cutting lets shots run long, which is right for Chong’s delayed reactions and wrong for anything involving a moving vehicle. Lou Adler directs by pointing the camera at his two leads and waiting. When they are in a two-shot the waiting pays. When the film has to get them from one place to another it has no idea how, and the joins show. The second half is built around a van, and what the van is made of is the one visual joke in the film that lands as well as the verbal ones; we will leave it there. Once the pair are on the road the film loses even its loose grip, and the people who turn up to chase them are broader and louder than anything Marin and Chong do. Marin is the more skilled performer, quick and physical, a wheedler with a grin. Chong plays a man whose thoughts arrive by post. Together they have something. Apart, neither is given a scene. It reached British cinemas on 18 October 1979, and it is the film the stoner comedy was built on; the better ones that followed learned from it that the person is funnier than the drug. Here the drug is the joke about a third of the time, and by the end that third feels like more. The 18 certificate is for the smoking and the language rather than anything that would trouble you. Watch it late, with company, in the frame of mind it was plainly made for; sober on a weekday afternoon, it is a long 86 minutes. *Fi1m score 56, published 26 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Up in Smoke worth watching?** *Up in Smoke* is worth watching only late, with company and in the frame of mind it was made for; we scored it 56. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are funny whenever the camera holds them in a two-shot, but the film stalls every time it has to move them somewhere. Sober on a weekday afternoon, it is a long 86 minutes. **How long is Up in Smoke, and what is it rated?** *Up in Smoke* runs 1h 26m and is rated 18 by the FSK in Germany. It is an adventure and comedy film. **Where can I watch Up in Smoke in Germany?** *Up in Smoke* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from €2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Up in Smoke, and is it suitable for children?** *Up in Smoke* is not violent or frightening, but its 18 certificate is earned by constant drug use and strong language, and it is not for children. The film is largely two men smoking and talking slowly, with a drunk judge and a police chase for variety. Teenagers will find nothing to disturb them; parents may object to what it treats as normal. **How does Up in Smoke compare to The Big Lebowski?** *Up in Smoke* is the rougher, thinner film beside [*The Big Lebowski*](https://film.one/film/the-big-lebowski), and the Coens' is the better of the two by some distance. Both wander, but *The Big Lebowski* has a plot it can afford to lose and a lead worth following, while *Up in Smoke* has a double act and little else. Start with Lebowski unless you specifically want Marin and Chong. **What should I watch after Up in Smoke?** After *Up in Smoke*, try [*The Big Lebowski*](https://film.one/film/the-big-lebowski) (1998, Fi1m 85): The stoner comedy grown up: a plot it can lose and a lead worth following. Then [*Withnail and I*](https://film.one/film/withnail-and-i) (1987, Fi1m 88): Two men, no money, a great deal of drink and much better lines; and [*Dazed and Confused*](https://film.one/film/dazed-and-confused) (1993, Fi1m 86): One Texas evening in 1976, with the drifting done on purpose and to a rhythm. ### Reviews we read (4) - **The New York Times** (63/100, inferred): The article’s verdict and specific praise or criticism cannot be verified from the inaccessible page. Its headline links pothead comedy with toga-party humor but does not establish the critic’s assessment. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/19/archives/film-view-whats-so-funny-about-potheads-and-toga-parties.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Fernando F. Croce (2.5/4): Croce finds the comedy benign but tepid, with its stars often drifting past the jokes. He praises Adler’s loose direction and the comic timing in the two-shots between Cheech and Chong. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/up-in-smoke/) - **Time Out**, FF (60/100, inferred): The review presents the film as a defining fantasy of serious dope culture, while suggesting it has both comic highs and lows. It singles out the van made entirely from “Fibreweed” as a memorable comic image. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/up-in-smoke) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (30/100, inferred): The review finds the film lacking in cohesion and says it falters after its obvious drug jokes run out. It singles out the humor and characterization as weak points. [Read](https://variety.com/1977/film/reviews/up-in-smoke-1200424101/) ## Details - **Director:** Lou Adler - **Director:** Lou Adler - **Writer:** Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin - **Cinematography:** Gene Polito - **Editor:** Scott Conrad - **Producer:** Lou Adler, Lou Lombardo - **Cast:** Cheech Marin as Pedro; Tommy Chong as Man; Strother Martin as Mr. Stoner; Edie Adams as Tempest Stoner; Harold Fong as Chauffeur; Richard Novo as Richard; Jane Moder as Jail Bait; Pam Bille as Jail Bait - **Runtime:** 1h 26m - **Certificate (FSK):** 18 - **Release (Germany):** 17 May 1979 - **Genres:** Adventure, Comedy - **Box office:** $42 million ## Where to watch in Germany - Amazon Prime Video: rent €2.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy €9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-26.* Also available in: AT, AU, BG, CA, CZ, DE, GB, IN, LT, NZ, RO, RS, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Big Lebowski* (1998), Fi1m 85: The stoner comedy grown up: a plot it can lose and a lead worth following — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-big-lebowski.md) - *Withnail and I* (1987), Fi1m 88: Two men, no money, a great deal of drink and much better lines — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/withnail-and-i.md) - *Dazed and Confused* (1993), Fi1m 86: One Texas evening in 1976, with the drifting done on purpose and to a rhythm — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dazed-and-confused.md) - *Smiley Face* (2007): Anna Faris spends a day stoned and the film keeps pace with her, which is rare - *Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle* (2004): The same shape, one night and one errand, with a script that shows up for work --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/up-in-smoke