Film

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie

Name: Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Released: 1980
Cast: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Evelyn Guerrero, Betty Kennedy, Sy Kramer

Comedy
Light-hearted

Cheech & Chong's second film is a loose, anarchic sketch-comedy romp through 1980s Los Angeles, strung together on the thinnest of plots. It's pure vaudeville energy—broad, silly, often crude, with the comedy landing in random bursts rather than building to anything. For fans of their album work and comedy albums who want to see them in motion, or anyone who finds their particular brand of stoner absurdism funny rather than tiresome.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love loose, scrappy stoner comedy where the jokes come from two sad-sack hustlers wandering a sun-bleached city and blundering into one bad scheme after another.

Skip it if you want tight plotting or a steady rhythm of gags, since this one drifts from bit to bit and its sketchy, improvised energy can feel more like a hangout than a finished story.

What it asks of you: Ninety-nine minutes of shambling episodes with no urgency, so you need to be happy to let the mood carry you rather than waiting for the story to tighten up.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Up in Smoke1978

The first Cheech & Chong film, with tighter pacing and a genuine plot about a cross-border drug run. It's how they proved the act could sustain ninety minutes, and it's genuinely inventive in ways the sequel isn't.

But Even fans of the duo sometimes find their comedy albums funnier than their films—the energy doesn't always translate to the screen as well as you'd hope.

Trading Places1983

A genuinely clever comedy with real stakes and character arcs. Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd's chemistry crackles, and the plot—two men switched by millionaires for a bet—keeps building to something satisfying.

But It's more structured and less improvisational than Cheech & Chong. If you want pure rambling chaos, this has a narrative spine you might find constraining.

How High2001

Method Man and Redman carry the same sort of stoner-comedy torch with better energy and more actual jokes. The plot is thin but the two leads genuinely enjoy riffing off each other, and it moves faster.

But The rapping feels dated now, and the film leans harder on weed jokes than character. Younger comedians doing the same thing doesn't automatically make it fresher.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Cheech & Chong's Next Movie

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Eating Raoul1982

Both are 1980 comedies built on characters doing increasingly insane things for money, with sketch-like scenes strung together by the thinnest plot, but Eating Raoul trusts the audience to find horror and comedy in the same moment.

A scrappy 1980 indie dark comedy where a prudish married couple accidentally kills a swinger, then discovers they can profit from murder. It's anarchic and transgressive like Cheech & Chong but plays everything deadpan and horrifying—comedy through complete tonal wrongness.

But It's genuinely uncomfortable and bleakly weird rather than cuddly-silly. The humor comes from watching terrible people do terrible things, which requires a stomach for that kind of dark moral territory.

Ghostbusters II1989

Proof that sequels to beloved films can still capture the spirit of their predecessor. Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and the gang dig into absurdity with the same loose, gag-ridden approach you loved the first time.

But Some sketches drag. The film knows it's riding on goodwill from the original and occasionally coasts, hoping you'll laugh at the reference rather than the joke.

Animal House1978

Raw, episodic, sketch-like comedy where the plot is just scaffolding for gags. John Belushi and the ensemble work with the same chaotic energy—a string of memorable bits rather than a tightly constructed story.

But The sexual politics haven't aged well. What read as edgy irreverence in 1978 now reads as cruel in ways that kill the comedy.

This Is Spinal Tap1984

A mockumentary where comedians improvise within a loose structure, finding truth in absurdity. Christopher Guest and Rob Reiner prove that sketch energy can work in film when you trust the actors enough to let them find it.

But It's drier than Cheech & Chong—the humor is more subtle and architectural. If you want broad laughs, this is too clever and too in love with its own precision.

Coming to America1988

Eddie Murphy in his comedy prime, indulging in sketch-like bits and voice work within a story that genuinely moves. He's loose and inventive in a way that feels like concert comedy translated to film.

But It's significantly more plot-driven and emotional than Cheech & Chong. The structure sometimes gets in the way of the gags rather than serving them.

Caddyshack1980

Released the same year as this film, it's pure improv energy—Chevy Chase and Bill Murray riffing off each other with a golf tournament as the loosest of excuses. Plot is almost incidental to the bits.

But The class commentary feels muddled, and some of the comedy is just characters being jerks without earning the laugh. The film sometimes mistakes rambling for funny.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure1985

Tim Burton and Paul Reubens create something genuinely surreal from silly energy. It's absurdist and anarchic like Cheech & Chong, but with visual invention that makes the randomness feel intentional and delightful.

But Pee-wee's character is specifically designed to annoy people—some viewers find him insufferable rather than endearing, which kills the whole enterprise if that's you.

Sid and Nancy1986

Both films follow characters living chaotically in Los Angeles, causing trouble and spiraling without apparent plan, but Sid and Nancy treats that chaos as a tragedy while Cheech & Chong treats it as entertainment.

A punk-era love story between doomed, wasted musicians that's raw, kinetic, and genuinely tragic. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb are completely committed to the chaos—it's anarchic energy with real consequences and feeling underneath.

But It's a serious film about addiction and death that happens to be hysterically shot. If you want comedy without actual heartbreak, this will deflate your evening.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both are films obsessed with the Los Angeles music and entertainment industry, treating it as a space where anything can happen and nobody has consequences, but Phantom treats it as baroque tragedy while Cheech & Chong play it as cartoon mayhem.

Brian De Palma's cult operetta—a horror-comedy-musical about a record producer and a disfigured rocker that's wildly ambitious, campy, and genuinely bonkers. It plays like rock-and-roll excess as gothic horror, and nothing settles into one tone.

But It's deliberately artificial and theatrical in a way that reads as pretentious rather than fun if you're not in the right headspace. Some viewers find the tonal whiplash exhausting rather than exhilarating.