''Puff, Puff, Pass'' is a 2006

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

crime film, also known as ''Living High'', directed by

Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer (; born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He portrayed Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama '' ER'' until 2008 and had a co-starring role opposite actor/rapper Eminem in the 2002 feature film '' 8 Mile''. He was ...

Plot

The film opens with an infomercial, given by Dick Dupre (a parody of

Don Lapre Donald D. Lapre (May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American multi-level marketing and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets". Lapre was criticized as ...

, played by John C. McGinley), which Larry (

Danny Masterson Daniel Peter Masterson (born March 13, 1976) Most sources give birth date March 13, 1976. FilmReference.com gives March 3, 1976. is an American actor. He played the roles of Steven Hyde in '' That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), Milo Foster in ''Men ...

) and Rico ( Ronnie Warner) are watching. Larry and Rico are two stoners who live in a one-room apartment, and after watching the entire infomercial, they decide to start a "tiny

classified ad Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

s" business. This is a running gag throughout the film. Each time they explain their new "business," someone asks, "Ads for what?", and they respond confidently, "That's not the point! It's complex" or "The ads themselves... they generate income", simply quoting the infomercial. After the two are locked out of their apartment by their landlord Lance (

Jonathan Banks Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...

) for being late on rent, the two are stuck for a way to get

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

so they can watch ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...

'' during a 24-hour marathon on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. Larry, in despair because his car won't start and they will miss "the Shank," remembers a rehab brochure he picked up, and decides that he had reached "his bottom", and needs to go to rehab. Rico decides to go with him after he sees in the brochure that the clinic has basic cable. In rehab, the two stoners quickly find themselves out of place among the hard drug addicts there, not to mention the counselors. Beside this, they also find out that the brochure was false, and they only have eight channels and no TNT. After spending their first night messing with junkies and each having a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

with the women in rehab, the two are kicked out. They decide to go to see Big Daddy (

), a wealthy acquaintance of theirs. Big Daddy thinks that Larry and Rico are two guys his girlfriend Elise (

Ashley Scott Ashley McCall Scott (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress and model, best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Maria Miller in the video games ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and ''The Last of Us Part II'' (2020). She has also a ...

) has set up for his sale of an expensive collection of antique Indian Head pennies. The buyer is an aspiring rapper named Cool Crush Ice Killa (

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former American footballer. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which aired from 2005 to 2009, and portrayed Terry Jeffords ...

), who wants to meet Larry and Rico at a bus station with the money. They forget the coins in Larry's car, and in a panic they run from the bus station with the money, with Ice Killa chasing them. They go back to Big Daddy's, where Ice Killa, who has a great

fear of dogs Cynophobia (from the el, κύων ''kýōn'' "dog" and ''phóbos'' "fear") is the fear of dogs and canines in general. Cynophobia is classified as a specific phobia, under the subtype "animal phobias". According to Timothy O. Rentz of the Labor ...

, is chased up a tree by Big Daddy's trained guard dog. Larry, Rico, and Big Daddy then find out that Elise and Ice Killa were trying to steal the coins. Big Daddy then asks Larry and Rico to work for him in his investment in beachfront property in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. At the airport, they run into Dupre, whose infomercials turned out to be a scam, and is now also investing in Nicaragua. The movie ends with another infomercial, this time featuring Dupre, Larry and Rico. Back at the apartment, two new stoners ( Jaleel White and

Paulo Costanzo Paulo Costanzo (born September 21, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (Ax) in the TV series '' Animorphs'', the roles of Rubin Carver in the comedy film ''Road Trip'', Alexander Cabot in '' Josie a ...

) are being told off by Lance for being late on rent, when Larry and Rico appear on the TV telling of their new fortunes. The new tenants hail them as brilliant, yelling "Nicaragua!" victoriously. In complete disbelief, Lance decides to inhale from their

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

Cast

as Larry * Ronnie Warner as Rico *

as Big Daddy * John C. McGinley as Jerry Dupre *

as Lance *

as Elise *

as Cool Crush Ice Killa *

Darrell Hammond Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014. Upon his departure, Hammo ...

as Jonathan * David Faustino as Steve *

Jason Stuart Jason Stuart (born Stuart Ted Greif; January 13, 1959) is an American actor and comedian. Life and career Born in The Bronx, New York, Stuart was raised in Los Angeles, California. He is openly gay, and is the chair of the Screen Actors Guil ...

as Chet *

Constance Marie Constance Marie Lopez (born September 9, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Angie Lopez in ''George Lopez'' (2002–2007), and Marcela Quintanilla (mother of Selena) in the film ''Selena'' (1997). She portrayed Reg ...

as Montana * Kristen Miller as Aimee (as Kristin Miller) * LaVan Davis as Otis *

Justin Chon Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has directed three films, ''Gook'' (2017), '' Ms. Purple'' (2019), & ''Blue Bayou'' (2021). He is also known for portraying Eric Yorkie in '' The Twilight Saga'' film ...

as Bobbi *

as Tenant #1 * Jaleel White as Tenant #2 *

Mo Collins Maureen Ann Collins (born July 7, 1965) is an American actress and comedian who was a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series '' Mad TV''. Collins became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show. She was ...

as Linda *

Lindsay Hollister Lindsay Hollister (born June 3, 1977) is an American actress. Biography Hollister was born in Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from Pickerington High School and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre Performance from Miami University in ...

as Heather * Jazzmun as Lisa

Reception

David Nusair of ReelFilm.com wrote: "''Puff, Puff, Pass'' generally remains watchable, albeit in a mindless, sitcomesque sort of way (throw in a laugh track and you've got the latest Fox comedy). Masterson and Warner are convincing as drug-addicted morons, while the supporting cast (which also includes '' Married... with Children'''s David Faustino) provides sporadic instances of entertainment throughout the film. But the bottom line is that the movie just isn't funny, despite the best efforts of screenwriters Kent George and Warner (the only exception to this are the repeated references to ''The Shawshank Redemption'', dubbed ''The Shank'' by Larry and Rico). Phifer, making his directorial debut here, infuses ''Puff, Puff, Pass'' with all the style of a movie-of-the-week; consequently, one can't help but wonder why he chose ''this'' as his initial foray into the world of filmmaking." Christopher Armstead of Film Critics United said that it was "a fairly amateurish, poorly edited, overlit, mess of a movie... But damn it all to hell, this nonsense made me laugh." He continued: "Crazy stuff happens there which leads to them getting evicted, but having met Big Daddy (Phifer), they agree to be the go between in selling some of his wooden nickels in a scam involving Big Daddy's girlfriend Elise (Ashley Scott) and her accomplice, hopeful rapper Ice Cold Crush (Terry Crews). Toss in a couple of transvestites, a horny Jesus freak, an homage to the

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

rape scene and lots of 'Shawshank Redemption' references, and we have one hell of a mixed up confusing mess." Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com wrote: "There's not enough weed on the planet to make this movie funny... It's as if some stoner actor's home movies somehow got released onto

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

References

External links

* * {{rotten tomatoes, puff_puff_pass 2006 films American films about cannabis Films directed by Mekhi Phifer Films produced by Will Packer Rainforest Films films American crime comedy films Stoner crime films 2006 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films