Josh Gilbert's curt documentary about the arrest and conviction of comedian and former bong-maker Tommy Chong reveals the federal sting operation that put Tommy Chong in a state penitentiary for nine months for shipping glass bongs to Pennsylvania.
A/K/A Tommy Chong (2005)
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:15
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.1/10
Runtime: 80 mins
Genre: Television
Synopsis: a/k/a Tommy Chong is a dynamic portrait of comedy legend Tommy Chong, set against the unfolding political horror story of post 911 America. Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows the tragic and absurd tale... a/k/a Tommy Chong is a dynamic portrait of comedy legend Tommy Chong, set against the unfolding political horror story of post 911 America. Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows the tragic and absurd tale of Chong as he travels down the rabbit hole of America's war on drugs and the federal prison system after becoming the primary target in a government sting, code named "Operation Pipe Dreams." In February of 2003, at a time of unparalleled assaults to our freedoms by international terrorists, John Ashcroft and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan spent 12 million dollars to take down Tommy Chong for selling art glass water pipes – aka bongs – over the internet. In the words of the great Magritte, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe…" What emerges is an intimate portrait of a cosmic character, caught in the crosshairs of a surreal Cheech and Chong fantasy come to life. --© Official Site [More]
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Release:
Aug 26, 2008
Reviews for A/K/A Tommy Chong
A very scary documentary illustrating the carte blanche accorded Big Brother by the Patriot Act
What comes across is Chong's innate elegance and intelligence, two qualities often missing from his trademark comedic work.
This isn't a great piece of nonfiction filmmaking, but it has its moments.
This is an important propaganda film. After all, Gilbert has all the facts in hand and presents it halfway decently.
Even those unimpressed with [Cheech and Chong's] genially lowbrow work will be intrigued by the political tenor of this portrait.
What could have been either a scathing critique of the drug war or an intimate portrait of a stoner facing mortality instead comes off as a fawning infomercial for its subject.
Apparently granted unlimited access to Chong's personal archives, Gilbert digs up some great footage and photos from his early years as well his '70s heyday.
It is also a portrait of resilience: Chong does his time (nine months) and has the last laugh, emerging as a born-again activist-survivor of the culture wars.
Josh Gilbert's film tells the depressing, often ridiculous and generally enraging story of how and why Tommy Chong ended up doing time in a minimum-security prison.
How the feds inadver tently resurrected the performing career of stoner comic Tommy Chong by busting him is the ironic subtext of Josh Gilbert's one-sided documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong.
This genial doc sprinkles Reagan and Nixon soundbites over its vintage stash of C&C clips for a suitably fuzzy squint at America from '69 to the buzzkill present.
Josh Gilbert's smoothly produced documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong should leave even Nancy Reagan aghast at the unfair trials of comedian Tommy Chong.
Its dramatic thinness doesn't dilute its simultaneously ridiculous and terrifying portrait of federal prosecution run amok.
A surprisingly clear-eyed, sober account of what it’s liked to be embraced by a culture, while loathed by the Powers That Be.
The movie's value varies according to how much of the story you already know.
First-time filmmaker Josh Gilbert, whose skills behind the camera are rudimentary, might be a bit too close to his subject to do disinterested viewers justice.
A cheeky, somewhat suspect documentary on the battles between an icon of stoner comedy and the Feds, a/k/a Tommy Chong serves up a biased account of Chong's arrest and incarceration for manufacturing drug paraphernalia.
Latest News for A/K/A Tommy Chong
August 27, 2008:
DEA drama chronicles case of pot comedian entrapped by the Feds following the passage of the Patriot Act. ![]()
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