©Courtesy of Bushell Productions

Pushing through the haze of personal turmoil, collaborative conflict and shifting societal views of the ideals they champion can cause friction between any close-knit collaborators, especially when they no longer view their shared success the same way. That’s certainly the case for the titular comedians-actors of the new documentary, Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie.

The project is the first fully authorized documentary about Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, who thrived in the counterculture drug scene in the 1970s. The film was directed and produced by David L. Bushell, who previously helmed the short Jim Carrey documentary, I Needed Color.

Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie follows the titular performers as they burst onto the comedy scene in the early 1970s. They garnered worldwide success for bringing drugs, sex and rock-n-roll into the mainstream, transforming them into counterculture icons. Their stoner humor has led them to sell out concerts, release platinum-selling records and box-office-smashing films, and remain relevant for over half-a-decade.

While the movie emphasizes the hard work and determination it took for Marin and Chong become one of America’s most popular comedy acts, it also also explores the financial sruggles and managerial difficulties the duo weathered at the height of their success. The documentary also explores the creative differences that ultimately drove the two men apart. While the pair are currently on friendly terms, they still carry some resentments. The two performers remember different versions of the same events, and ultimately view the other as the malefactor.

©Courtesy of Bushell Productions

Through its eclectic storytelling style by Bushell and editor Brett Mason, the film offers enthralling and emotional insight into the lives, friendship and professional collaboration of the two titular cultural icons. The narrative creatively honors Marin and Chong’s legacy by featuring sequences of them driving together through the desert, which wrap around their recollections of their professional achievements and personal conflicts together.

The movie’s narrative is also engagingly crafted through Bushell’s collaboration with director of photography, Michael Alden Lloyd. The filmmakers shot the present-day scenes near Joshua Tree without a set script, which highlights Marin and Chong’s natural banter and disagreements.

While its editing and cinematography highlight the performers’ lives through their unique signature comedic deliveries, overall Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie does also fall into some predictable documentary storytelling. The documentary features some of the storytelling methods that have become typical in the genre, including blending archival footage with contemporary interviews.

But Bushell was still able to craft an overall engaging story that celebrates the strives that Cheech and Chong have made in their lives, especially early in their careers. The film shares details from the actors’ different upbringings that some fans may have already known; those snippets include how Marin contended with growing up in California with his strict police officer father, while Chong escaped an impoverished childhood in Calgary.

©Courtesy of Bushell Productions

The duo also recount how their unique experiences and skills, as well as their mutual appreciation for marijuana and experiences with racism and alienation in their youth, helped them develop their act. Their recollections of their past throughout the movie prove how relatable they are in their overall lives; they have become identifiable in not just their celebration of the drug’s former place in the counterculture, but also its more recent legalization in numerous states across the U.S.

The documentary’s standard biographical quality shows how their different skills from their earlier lives were later utilized in their act. Marin embrace the counterculture lifestyle as a politically active college student in the 1960s, during which he protested against the Vietnam War. Chong, meanwhile, attained minor success as a musician in the Canadian soul group Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers before connecting with Marin, which helped give him confidence as a live performer.

The two also found their way into marijuana at similar times, albeit through radically different venues befitting their distinctive pasts.  Marin discovered the drug in college where he also crossed paths with Timothy Leary. Chong, meanwhile, first tried marijuana while watching jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman play in a club.

After exploring the pair’s upbringings and introduction to each other, the film then openly delves into the conflicts that have been left unresolved between them. Those clashes include contract disputes, credit battles and diverging interests, which arose in part from their collaboration with Lou Adler.

The Grammy-winning record producer gave the comedians their first recording contract and helped them develop their act, which included opening for the Rolling Stones. Adler then signed on to direct their first feature, Up In Smoke. The hit buddy stoner comedy became one of their highest profile projects together.

Despite the comedy’s massive success, the actors bitterly recall in the documentary how Adler affected their profit from the 1978 project, and as a result, they only made $2,000. While they have since reconciled with the director, the performers recalled how the situation with him in part caused such friction between them that they eventually went their separate ways.

©Courtesy of Bushell Productions

As a result, Bushell individually interviewed Marin and Chong for the documentary to allow them the chance to share their perspectives over their arguments from earlier in their careers. They both discussed how Chong felt the need to maintain full creative control over the movies they shot together, especially the ones that he directed, even though they co-wrote the scripts together. As a result, they revealed their differing views on his talent and skills in the new documentary.

The comedians’ on-screen success together also started to dwindle when Marin started to garner fame for his solo acting work, which surprisingly includes such family-friendly series as The Lion King, Cars and Spy Kids. Despite the inconsistencies in the later years of their careers, the film reflects real-life friendships.

Bushell’s directorial debut, which had its world premiere at SXSW, showcases how Marin and Chong became iconic comedians whose mark on culture remains intact. Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie is a precise, thorough examination into the lives and careers of the legendary comic duo. Its extensive contemporary interviews allows the pair the opportunity to finally talk openly about their lives and collaboration.