Pineapple Express Review: Movie Reviews
Posted on August 8, 2008
Filed Under comedy, movie reviews |
In the tradition of Cheech & Chong, Abbott and Costello, Hope and Crosby, Ricky and Lucy, Martin and Lewis, Rowan and Martin, Smothers and Smothers, Sanford and son, Spicoli and Hand, Bert and Ernie, Riggs and Murtaugh, cops and robbers, dumb and dumber, right brain and left, peanut butter and jelly, bong hit, roach clip and Snoop Doggy Dogg comes “Pineapple Express,” a stoner comedy that partakes of a gentle indie vibe before hitting the hard stuff for a major Shane Black-style blowup and meltdown.
In short it’s funny. Really funny.
The easiest way to explain Pineapple Express is: if The Big Lebowski was a forties film noir with this big shambling wreck of a stoner in it then Pineapple Express is like a B 80’s action movie, a Cobra if you will, with two big shambling wrecks of stoners in it. From the opening scene, which combines a wonderful cameo by a crusty Thomas Hayden Church, science experiments, hilarious use of old diving suits, and cold blooded murder into a uproarious combo you know Pineapple Express is going to be something special.
The film follows Seth Rogen as a Process Server who really really likes weed. When he witnesses a murder, the culprits are able to track him and his dealer (James Franco) thanks to the titular strain of smoke. Things get complicated and eventually the two find themselves in the middle of a full scale gang war. 
Throughout the early moments of the film we see Dale dressing in a variety of costumes as he carries out his job serving folks subpoenas, divorce papers and other varieties of unwanted legal documents. It is an early source for comedy and it is used wisely and sparingly. His final drop for the night is with a man named Ted (Gary Cole) who ironically turns out to be Saul’s supplier.So when Dale is the only witness to a murder in Ted’s living room involving a crooked cop, Ted and brains splattered all over the window he forgets his delivery and high-tails it out of there. In his haste to leave the scene he is seen and his abandoned roach becomes a link back to Saul as Ted recognizes the strain he sold Saul, and Saul alone. Our boys are on the run and our film has a plot.
From this point on out we find Dale and Saul avoiding the law, ducking the criminals and meeting a variety of social misfits, but none of them are better than Red played by Danny McBride. I was harsh on McBride’s earlier release this year Foot Fist Way, but he redeems himself both with Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder, which releases only a week later. His foul mouth and hick accent are the obvious sources of comedy, but his character’s passion for survival and the ultimate role he plays in the film is what holds this picture together. Without Red, Pineapple Express would have been a big dull dud.
Pineapple Express is essentially a party sub in which all of the dead and bloody stuff is unevenly packed into the last third; followed by endless amounts of lazy meta-improv between James Franco, Rogen and Danny McBride (who almost saves the movie) sitting on their self-gratified asses telling us how amazing the movie we just watched was. In the Judd Apatow-produced and much funnier, Step Brothers, Will Ferrell & Co. go out with a bang with a rock opera, some unclassic Billy Joel, and the affable phrase “Fucking Catalina Wine-Mixer!” If PE is the new gold standard for American comedy as proclaimed by every glossy magazine this month, I’m going to go take a shit and read my collection of National Lampoon magazines for the next year like the black dude in Summer School.
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