As Good As It Gets

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The first must-see film of the year.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A mind-opening documentary showing tax payers money being spent frivolously. Tommy Chong, half of the famous and outrageously funny stoner team of Cheech and Chong, found himself in the slammer for his secondary career. Selling 'bongs'..colorful water pipes often used to consume marijuana. Chong became a primary target in a government sting called "Operation Pipe Dreams" under the guiding eyes of Attorney General John Ashcroft and Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.Of all the people indicted and prosecuted in the sting, with only one or two priors, Chong was the only one to receive a jail sentence...nine months in minimum security at Taft, California. Supposedly the harsh punishment was because Tommy making fun of the government's anti-drug efforts in the movie UP IN SMOKE. Chong now jokes about the only Weapons of Mass Destruction that the Bush Administration has every found is his bongs.Lesson: it might not be good in the long run to joke about DEA, IRS, CIA or Homeland Security. Innocent or not...they can do anything they want to do. Archive footage with pro and con comment include: Paul Moyer, Jay Leno, Bill Maher,George Thorogood, Ronald Reagan, Peter Coyote, Lou Adler, Cheech Marin, Alan M. Dershowitz and George W. Bush.

Have you ever wondered what 12 million dollars can do? It turns out that 12 million dollars and hundreds of man hours by law enforcement can send a 62 year husband and father with no prior arrests to jail for sending some glass pipes to Pennsylvania. Does that strike you as a good use of taxpayer money??? This is a fascinating movie that all people need to see. Whatever side you are on, you need to see what our so called 'freedom loving' government will do to silence people who don't fit into their cookie cutter lifestyle. Watch this movie and take action. We are long over due for change and our justice system, as clearly shown here, is sadly anything but just.

I caught a screening of "a/k/a Tommy Chong" at the Toronto Film Festival, and I have to say it's one of the best docs I've seen in a long time. The subject itself is fascinating, but what's even cooler is the access the filmmakers had to Chong himself. The film reveals the personality behind the persona--all while giving an in-depth look into the life of a comic legend. In addition,the film gives an extremely eye-opening look at drug policy in this country. I don't think that most people realize the roots of the most of the drug laws in the U.S. are based in racism, and this film does a great job of exposing that in a non-preachy (even hilarious!) manner. Anyone who has the chance should absolutely catch "a/k/a Tommy Chong."

Tommy Chong, a figure who represents a movement to many, may just by his name bring many curious people to the theater. As a fairly conservative individual who more or less believes in the capacity of government, if the film had just been about the unfairness of anti-pot legislation/enforcement it probably wouldn't have done much for me.Instead, the film shed alarming light on how justice is administered today. It disturbed me how various powerful people decided bringing down Tommy would add celebrity to their resume, and how much of a ruse they used to get him. I didn't necessarily question the legality of the actions (police can do things like send minors into bars to solicit alcohol or cigarettes) but rather the ideology and zealousness behind it. Is this consistent with how the majority of Americans feel we should act? There is a great biographical aspect to the film that is smartly interwoven with present day events. It helped set context and added some background color to the names Cheech and Chong. I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and this film was a cool glimpse into where our culture has been and how it has evolved.