Things Are Tough All Over (1982)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The 4th Cheech & Chong movie starts out strong with hilarity but fizzles as it progresses.The title obviously refers to the 1981-82 recession that was going on at the time. Cheech & Chong have dual roles as themselves and two wealthy Arab brothers who own a chain of car washes.The stoner duo somehow have found themselves in Chicago working for the brothers in a car wash. After they are fired for incompetence, they are re-hired as singers in a band (where they perform One-Eyed Snake) and find out the Arab's French girlfriends (played by Cheech & Chong's wives) are attracted to them.Later, they are told to drive a limousine to Las Vegas. However they have no money and in lieu of cash, they give away parts to pay for gas. Unbeknownst to Cheech & Chong, there was a ton of cash hidden in the car and when they mistakenly give it away without a second thought, the Arabs find out about it and they go on a search in the desert outside Las Vegas to off the stoners.Things Are Tough All Over has its moments but there are too many scenes of repetition and boredom in the middle. The characters of Slyman and Habib are actually funny at times but at this point, we already know all too well what will come out of Cheech & Chong's mouths. The same stuff we heard in the prior 3 films.It's still an O.K. film but it just lacks the full-court press zaniness that the prior three entries had.

"Things Are Tough All Over" takes a little bit of a different turn from the stoner duo's previous movies. This one casts them as hustlers in Chicago who take a job driving a car to Las Vegas, not knowing that the car's owners -- C & C in dual roles as Arab princes -- have stashed money in the automobile.Of course, the movie is just an excuse for a bunch of silliness. There's less in the way of drugs this time around, but there's plenty to make up for it. The best scene was probably the movie theater.Yeah, just an excuse to be goofy, but that's what makes it great. Evelyn Guerrero reappears as Cheech's girlfriend Donna, and Rip Taylor also appears.

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.

A Cheech and Chong adventure, strangely not involving much drugs nor taking place in LA. That also might be the reason this is also one of the least funny Cheech and Chong movies. The Corsican Brothers was much funnier than this movie (which is not saying much). The movie starts out in Chicago, where our heroes work at a car wash. As usual, they get caught up in a strange turn of events that leads them to Las Vegas (this time). The laughs are far and few in between. The musical scene at the restaurant reminded me of old Yeller (someone please shoot him or rather me). The funniest scene is when Chong freaks out in the restaurant dressed up as a woman. His opening soliloquy is also quite funny. If you want to see a pointless adventure, not induced by drugs then see this movie. If, however, you would like to see a good Cheech and Chong movie skips this one. Go see Up in Smoke, Next Movie or even Nice Dreams. The movie can be summed up in a few powerful words : Cheech's man thong. Remember, rock and roll killed Elvis and I haven't done drugs in a week. I feel great. I feel like doing more drugs. You got any ??