Puff, Puff, Pass

It’s hard to tell what Ronnie Warner and Kent George were trying to accomplish when they perpetrated Puff, Puff, Pass on the video rental public, but hopefully, they will discover it takes a little more work to write a funny script than cobbling together every stupid pot joke and lame religious blasphemy they can think of into a coherent script. Think “lame sitcom trying to be edgy for 95 minutes,” and you’ll have exactly what this film turns out to be. Featuring six stars from various TV shows – with Mekhi Ph…fer being the only one around with impressive film credits – this film applies the old adage, “You get what you pay for,” in more ways than one.

The story centers on two stoners with a desire to go into business for themselves. However, they have no jobs and no ambition to help them along in the quest. They’re always late on rent payments. One of the stoners even unknowingly has sex with the other’s transvestite cousin. They fall for every huckster’s grand “paid programming” scheme in the book, and finally check into rehab for access to cable television. All this sounds very funny, and I’m sure it was in the other films, which did a better job depicting this sort of behavior. All in all, it’s a film that has very little going for it, except for an unusual affinity towards The Shawshank Redemption – but you’d have to be an idiot not to see the value in that film. While Puff, Puff, Pass may not be “an idiot,” in that regard, it barely rises above said mark.

Video

The transfer is 1.85:1, and anamorphic. It looks great, just as it should. Color schemes, particularly flesh tones, are rendered with strength and clarity. No grain or edge enhancement to speak of – and though the black levels aren’t called into service much, they come through when necessary.

Audio

Boasting the standard 5.1 track, Puff, Puff, Pass receives the treatment due any major studio release of a recent title. But it would be hard to botch audio for such a slickly produced – if incompetent – feature. And I’m happy to say Sony doesn’t fail here. The dialogue and bass are balanced, though neither attribute really brings the power when it comes to volume. Still, you won’t have any issues hearing it.

Special Features

Sony has included a large assortment of trailers for other studio efforts, but nothing with regards to the film itself. It’s all for the best, I suppose, as I can’t think of any circumstances where these other advertised films could be worse than the drivel that is Puff, Puff, Pass. It’s not too often that you must thank a studio for neglecting its product, but this film is certainly an exception.

Final Thoughts

Consider it a warning sign, when you’re dealing with a direct-to-DVD title, which stars a slew of guys “from TV’s .” Puff, Puff, Pass is a juvenile effort with every been-there, done-that pot joke you can think of, and a cast that wants nothing more than a paycheck. Dependable A/V presentation and a hollow place where the special features should be are not sweetening the deal either. Stick with all this talent’s small-screen excursions, and forget about supporting their feature film efforts… at least for now.

Special Features List

• Previews for other Sony Pictures titles