Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams - 1981

"Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams" - 1981
Dir. by Tommy Chong - 1 hr. 28 min.

Official Trailer

by Clayton Hollifield

"Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams" is pretty much exactly what you expect from Cheech & Chong.  Instead of this being a drawback, it's kind of comforting to know that you're getting exactly what you signed up for.  "Nice Dreams" is the duo's third movie together, and it's nice to see them just doing what they do well, with the characters that they've developed together.  It doesn't add up to anything meaningful, but it's a good way to blow ninety minutes.

Eschewing characters, Cheech (Cheech Marin) and Chong (Tommy Chong) use their own names.  They drive around Los Angeles in an ice cream truck, selling weed disguised as push-pops, barely incognito.  They roam about the city, going about their business, while a pair of policemen trail them.  Cheech and Chong try to celebrate their success, but end up waylaid by a pair of enthusiastic cocaine-sniffers (Evelyn Guerrero and Paul Reubens).  While Hamburger Dude (Reubens) absconds with their money, Cheech and Chong head back to Donna's (Guerrero) apartment.  When Donna's convict husband returns from jail, Cheech and Chong flee, and decide to track down Hamburger Dude and their money.

"Nice Dreams" has a shaggy-dog tone to it, and that's to be expected (and embraced).  Is there a plot?  Sort of.  But honestly, the entire point is just to watch a pair of stoners wander around and get in and out of trouble.  Even better if whatever is happening is either funny or weird.  There's plenty of both to go around.  In the weird category, there's Stacy Keach's Sgt. Stedanko gradually turning into a lizard from smoking Cheech and Chong's product, and the entire Casa Del Whacko situation, which culminates with a straight-jacketed Cheech and already heavily-medicated Chong being dosed with LSD by a cackling Tim Leary himself.  On the funny side, probably the biggest, broadest bit that's still really funny involves a fully-nude Cheech dangling from the outside of a glass elevator.  And for those who enjoy gardening, there is a pretty spectacular garden of a very relevant variety to feast one's eyes on.

But, as is appropriate for a movie where the main characters use the names they are known by, the most interesting scenes are ones that take a low-key approach.  One in particular, that takes place in a kitchen, just plants the camera in the corner of the room, while Cheech tries to cook something and Chong has a conversation with what appears to be a blind man.  I was drawn into the conversation, although nobody is talking about anything meaningful, and it's fun to watch Cheech try to play subtle jokes on Chong.  It's more akin to what it's probably like seeing these guys when they're not "on."  "Nice Dreams" has a blend of these lower-key scenes mixed with the ones that involve wide-eyed cocaine use or naked dangling Cheech (or Paul Reubens doing a simpleminded proto-Pee Wee; Reubens is at least as fun as Cheech or Chong in his smaller role).  It's an interesting development in the sort of film that you wouldn't necessarily expect to find any cinematic experimentation within.

If you were eyeballing the line-up of Cheech and Chong movies to make your evening complete, this isn't the one that I would start with.  But, if you've already seen "Up in Smoke," this one is a good number two choice.  You're going to get exactly what you want out of "Nice Dreams," but without the freshness of the first film.  But you're going to laugh still, which is really all I wanted here.

2.5 / 5 - TV

The Bourne Legacy - 2012

"The Bourne Legacy" - 2012
Dir. by Tony Gilroy - 2 hrs. 15 min.

Official Trailer

by Clayton Hollifield

Going in, "The Bourne Legacy" is in about as big of a hole as any film can be in: following up a well-regarded and well-received trilogy of films, and doing so with a new lead character (and the star of the previous films is nowhere to be seen in the advertising).  That sort of thing is the province of straight-to-DVD films that trade on a famous title without offering any actors you've ever heard of to back it up.  But I'll be damned if "The Bourne Legacy" doesn't pull it off.

As the trailer says, there was never only one.  The same program that yielded Jason Bourne has also yielded other agents.  This time, the focus is on Aaron Stone (Jeremy Renner), who is in the middle of a frozen wasteland, doing nothing but popping meds and dodging a pack of wolves.  The call is made to terminate the program, and Stone narrowly misses being rendered obsolete.  Despite surviving, Stone (presumably like the other agents) is dependent upon meds, and heads back to mainland United States to locate more (and to figure out what's going on, exactly).  However, since the government program that created Stone doesn't want him around anymore, this isn't exactly a cake-walk.

I didn't see any major negatives to "The Bourne Legacy," other than having warmed up to Matt Damon's character that was the focus of the first three films in this series.  Here, he's mentioned in dialogue and shown in file pictures, leaving the door open if they should want to return to Jason Bourne's saga.  I'm not going to say that Jeremy Renner is an equal replacement as the lead, but he's talented and believable in the action sequences.  Also, Renner's not the only actor of note here; both Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton play large roles, making it clear that this film is not a low-budget piece of crap that's only exploiting the "Bourne" franchise name and not backing it up.

In terms of the action sequences, there's some very good material here.  The big parkour/car/motorcycle chase in the Philippines is spectacular and filled with tension all the way through.  The setting itself is used to great effect and not just as a backdrop.  There's also a shoot-out at Dr. Shearing's (Weisz) house that's a very effective introduction to Stone's abilities.  But the things that make the action sequences matter are the ideas behind the film.  Both Shearing and Stone are given the opportunity to explain why it is they are doing what they're doing, and it's both relevant and meaningful.  Discussing them would be heavy spoiler territory, but it sheds a new light on the Jason Bourne films, as well.

Walking into "The Bourne Legacy," I kept my expectations low.  The original batch of films are some of my favorite action films, and I felt there was no way this film was going to be able to reach the bar set by them.  It's fair to mention that this film didn't reach that bar, but was still a pretty good action film.  "The Bourne Legacy" manages to stand on it's own, even if it's not a stand-out film like any of its predecessors.  As long as you're not trying to hold this film to the standards of the previous installments, I don't think anyone would view this as a let-down.

3.5 / 5 - Theatre