Nice Dreams

Nice Dreams is a 1981 American action adventure comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and starring Cheech & Chong, in their third feature film. Released in 1981 by Columbia Pictures, the film focuses on the duo having gotten rich selling cannabis out of an ice cream truck, and evading the Drug Enforcement Administration, led by Sgt. Stedanko (Stacy Keach), who are trying to bust an alleged drug kingpin named "Mr. Big", and discover a strain of marijuana that turns people into lizards, including Stedenko, who has been smoking cannabis to get inside the head of a drug user. The film costars Paul Reubens and Evelyn Guerrero, and features small appearances by comedians Sandra Bernhard and Michael Winslow, and a cameo by Timothy Leary. Nice Dreams grossed $35 million, but it received mixed reviews. The film was the first Columbia release to feature the 1981-1993 logo. Plot Cheech and Chong have a new business driving an ice cream truck selling "Happy Herb's Nice Dreams." However, their business makes its money not with ice cream but with high-grade marijuana, stolen from their friend Weird Jimmy whose plantation is under their beach house camouflaged as a pool. The two eventually make a fortune and blissfully plan on becoming "Sun Kings in Paradise" which involves buying an island, guitars, and enjoying many women. The police are on Cheech and Chong's tails from the start, as they trick the stoners into selling them some of their "ice cream." Sgt. Stedanko, now himself a stoner, tests the marijuana and slowly turns into a lizard (a side effect). Just as the police storm their house, Cheech and Chong pack up the marijuana in their truck and drive off, leaving Weird Jimmy to be arrested. While Sgt. Stedanko continues smoking their product, becoming stranger and more lizard-like, his two deputies, Det. Drooler and his inept partner Noodles, tail the stoners.