"Things Are Tough All Over" is about to overtake "Nice Dreams" as my favorite Cheech & Chong movie. If it wasn't for the movie theater scene it probably would be my favorite C&C movie. That scene isn't a deal breaker but it isn't that funny either. The rest of the movie, however, is very funny. There a lot of laughs. C&C are both in fine form. Their supporting cast (with the exception of their wives) is also very good. The only other demerit that I can give "Things Are Tough All Over" is that Donna's part is way too small.

Thing's Are Tough All Over is a funny movie. No spare parts needed to pump up the action and, in a way, works by being slightly more laid back then the past ones. It actually takes away an element without too much trouble and adds another. And it stays funny. The pot is what's taken away, for the most part, with maybe one or two tiny moments put in to reference their past films. What do they add? A road-movie attitude and two new characters by Cheech and Chong which are hilarious. Not withstanding that they're the most blatant kind of caricatures imaginable, they also have the funniest lines in the film. It's one thing to just have the look of these characters, but the duo pepper each one with clever dialog from start to finish (some of it pretty weird in its way). Some scenes here and there lag, but when the pace picks up again tenfold once they arrive in Las Vegas. With a funny cameo by Rip Taylor this film is one of Cheech and Chong's best.

The fourth of the Cheech and Chong movies, this opens with our heroes driving in the desert, not using drugs and talking about rock and roll. Turns out that they're working at a car wash for the rich Mr. Slyman and Prince Habib (also Cheech and Chong), who then send the boys to Chicago on a rock and roll tour, driving the limo that we saw them in at the start of the movie. Unbeknownst to our high heroes is the fact that the car is packed with cash.

Somehow, everyone ends up lost and wandering in the desert and it all ends with Cheech and Chong as porn stars. There's also a lot of peyote.

This movie came as the mainstream began to accept Cheech and Chong, with the National Association of Theatre Owners naming them the Comedy Team of the Decade. You can see the plan was to make this film have less drug humor, with Chong saying, "Cheech & Chong and dope are redundant. It's a challenge to see if we can do it. I know we can."

As always, this movie is packed with people, like Rufus drummer Richard "Moon" Calhoun, Dave Coulier, Evelyn Guerrero (as Donna again), John Paragon, George Wallace, Ruby Wax, Rip Taylor, Lance Kinsey (Proctor from the Police Academy films) and Dorothy Neumann (Private Parts).

Unlike the past films, this was not directed by Tommy Chong. Instead, Thomas K. Avildsen , who had edited the past three films, would make this the first and only movie that we would helm.