Far Out Man is a 1990 American comedy film written, directed by and starring Tommy Chong. A co-production with CineTel Films, the film was released to theatres by New Line Cinema on May 11, 1990.
An aging hippie goes on a road trip in search of his long lost family. He meets up with his son (Paris Chong, Tommy's real-life son). Together they go off to see America. A majority of Tommy's real life family have roles; daughter Rae Dawn plays his daughter and wife Shelby has a lead role as his ex. Chong's former partner Cheech Marin makes a cameo appearance as a passenger in the back of Far Out Man's truck.
Labeled on promotional posters and in the opening credits as "A Tommy Chong Attempt", it was filmed in Los Angeles, California, USA on a low-budget of $500,000.
Floyd Sneed, former drummer of the rock group Three Dog Night, and brother of Chong's first wife Maxine Sneed, made a small cameo in the film as a drummer during the nightclub scene.
A two-minute animation title sequence was featured in the film, and it was animated by a then-unknown Dan Povenmire, who was at the time a freelance animator for shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during the film's production. He would go on to be an animator for ', and would do writing, storyboards, and directing credits for The Simpsons, Rocko's Modern Life, and Family Guy, before eventually creating Phineas and Ferb in the future.
The film grossed $82,000 in its limited release against its $500,000 budget, making it a box office bomb.
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it a negative review, calling the film, "one lame âÂÂ60s-burnout joke after another. The movie [Far Out Man] is so weightless it barely gives you a contact high."