Puff, Puff, Pass
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''Puff, Puff, Pass'' is a 2006
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
, also known as ''Living High'', directed by
Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer ( ; born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s, Phifer was known for a few notable roles in films including ''Clockers (film), Clockers'', ''Soul Food (film), Soul Food'', ''High School High' ...
.


Plot

The film opens with an
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...
, given by Dick Dupre (a parody of Don Lapre, played by
John C. McGinley John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor. His best known roles include Perry Cox in '' Scrubs'', Bob Slydell in ''Office Space'', Captain Hendrix in '' The Rock'', Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's ''Platoon,'' ...
), 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 portrayed Steven Hyde in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), Milo Foster in ''Men at Work' ...
) 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 advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements use ...
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. He played FBI Special Agent Frank McPike in the television series '' Wiseguy'' (1987–1990). For his role, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supportin ...
) 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 Prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. The film t ...
'' during a 24-hour
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
on
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
. Larry, in despair because his car won't start and they will miss "the Shank," remembers a
rehab Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation hospital, hospitals devoted to the rehabilitation of patients w ...
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 is a single sexual encounter in which there is no expectation that there shall be any further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single night performanc ...
with the women in rehab, the two are kicked out. They decide to go to see Big Daddy (
Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer ( ; born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s, Phifer was known for a few notable roles in films including ''Clockers (film), Clockers'', ''Soul Food (film), Soul Food'', ''High School High' ...
), a wealthy acquaintance of theirs. Big Daddy thinks that Larry and Rico are two guys his girlfriend Elise ( Ashley Scott) 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 professional American football, football player. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/The CW Television Network, CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which air ...
), 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, 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 geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
. 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 an ...
) 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


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 independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
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 ki ...
."


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