Years before
Coma,
Jurassic Park, and
Twister made him a household name,
Michael Crichton co-wrote this amiable drug-oriented comedy, based on a novel Crichton co-authored with his brother Douglas under the pen name Michael Douglas. Peter (Robert F. Lyons) is a shaggy but straightlaced Harvard law student who feels the need for some rebellion in his life (and could use some extra money), so he takes up the offer of mid-level drug dealer John (
John Lithgow) to ferry a load of marijuana from California back to Boston. En route, Peter meets Susan (
Barbara Hershey), a comely hippie with whom he falls in love. Peter helps Susan avoid a drug bust and she decides to head back to Boston with him, but she finances the trip by arranging to bring back a stash of her own. At the airport, Susan runs afoul of Murphy (
Charles Durning), a crooked narcotics cop who steals half the pot and attempts to blackmail her.
Dealing featured the screen debut of
John Lithgow; Demond Wilson (who later starred in
Sanford and Son) and musician Buzzy Linhart also
appear. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide