"Pineapple Express" -- (Almost) Three Geek Review

Jeremiah:
"Pineapple Express" is two things: 1) One of the best stoner movies since "Half Baked" or "Harold and Kumar," and 2) One of the funniest action movies ever made. The writing super-team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the same dynamic duo that brought you one of the greatest modern-day teen sex comedies in "Superbad," got together again to parody/pay homage to the action genre of the '80s and '90s.

The plot is actually quite straight-forward, as we've come to expect in true action movies. Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) is a process server who likes to get high... a lot. After visiting his dealer, Saul Silver (James Franco), to get a very special blend of pot -- the titular Pineapple Express -- he goes to make his last stop for the day, one Ted Jones (Gary Cole). While outside his target's home, he decides to light up and, soon after, witnesses Ted and a police officer killing a man. Mayhem and hilarity ensue while Dale and Saul try to outrun and outsmart Ted and his cohorts, one of them being the crooked cop, Carla (Rosie Perez).

The genius of the movie is how the director, David Gordon Green, realizes that not everybody in the audience is a stoner, so there are plenty of just great gags in and of themselves. One example is the conversation Dale has with Red (Danny R. McBride), Saul's dealer, about karma and the possibility that, when you die doing a heroic act, you come back "as a dragon or fuckin' Jude Law."

The style and comedy is very much that of “Superbad.” It's a brilliant mixture of conversationalist humor, sight gags and people doing stupid shit. When the movie is not being funny, it at least has the courtesy to be an actual movie and deal with plot issues, which is more than I can say for the other Judd Apatow produced movie in theaters right now -- “Step-Brothers” -- which has the audacity to, when not being funny, just hit you over the head with the joke until it tires itself out... and then just goes on to another unfunny and/or uncomfortable attempt at humor.

“Pineapple Express” doesn't ask you to care for it's characters. You do that all on your own. By the end, you find yourself branding the hapless duo "lovable idiots." There was nary a scene where I was bored. I will admit, at the beginning I was a little afraid, that it would pull a “Step-Brothers,” having put all the best scenes in the previews. However, I can proudly assure you that the best scenes are found solely in the movie. Everyone does a fantastic job, from Rogen down to Kevin Corrigan, the cardigan sweater-vest wearing hit-man and his partner Matheson, played by Craig Robinson. The real stand-out performance is surprisingly not Rogen, but James Franco. Franco takes an idiotic, stoner lay-about and manages to, god help me, find the humanity in him. The chemistry between Franco and Rogen is a joy to watch -- particularly in a scene where Dale tries to explain to Saul that the car battery is dead.

All in all, I enjoyed myself. If you liked “Superbad” and were less than impressed with “Step-Brothers,” then you'll love this. If you hated “Superbad”....well I'm just going to stop right there and say I almost don't even wanna know you. Suffice to say, “Pineapple Express” left me feeling good, which is all I ask from stoner/buddy/action/comedies.


/ 5


Yours Until Hell Freezes Over,
Jeremiah



Thaddeus:
"Ghostbusters" will always be my favorite movie, but my love of movies can be blamed mostly on "Clerks" -- and don't worry, this is going somewhere. It wasn't the pervasive profanity or "Star Wars" references that locked that movie in my mind forever, it was the pitch-perfect portrayal of friendship between Dante and Randal. They weren't just movie people, they were people.

"Pineapple Express" has that same, special reality to it. Main men Dale Denton and Saul Silver feel like they just stumbled out of a convention of People I Knew (or At Least Kind-of Knew) in College. They're average, inept guys thrust into a spectacular situation. The classic, film noir "wrong man" plot hasn't looked this hilarious since "The Big Lebowski" turned it on its ear.

The movie is like a long string of individually brilliant moments combine to make some sort of theatrical Voltron, here to defend us from bland, samey comedy. There are scenes so pure that I may never be able to get them out of my head, such as Dale and Saul sword-fighting with sticks as they wander through the woods... who doesn't immediately do that when confronted with an aptly long twig?

Okay... maybe that's just another one of my neurotic obsessions, but it ties the film to whatever weirdness qualifies as reality for me.

Also, Sherman was right about James Franco. He completely runs away with this movie. Being a giant nerd, I was really impressed with Franco in "Spider-man 3" -- y'know, the one that everybody else didn't like. The amnesia-induced friendship between Harry Osborn and Peter Parker was what really kept me on board -- if you can't tell, friendship is something I love to see done well in movies.

Oh yeah, and there are awesome car chases, gunfights and explosions.

This is what comedy should be. The ignorant thought-criminals behind the endless string string of god-awful parody movies should be taking notes. "Pineapple Express," like "Shawn of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," not only pokes fun at various genres, but it also fits perfectly within them. It's an action/comedy that is both packed with action and consistently hysterical.

"Pineapple Express" has once again restored my faith in film comedies: sharp writing, honest performances and the ability to be stupid without being dumb... or is it the other way around? The endless retreads of the "[Fill in the Blank] Movie" series had about broken me, but here I was laughing in a theater again. It felt good.

See "Pineapple Express." And if later this month, some strange, cosmic radiation causes you to consider seeing that assuredly abysmal "Disaster Movie,"* just see "Pineapple Express" again.

4 out of 5

-Thad out


*Yeah, I know... I'm judging before seeing. Let's just say the previous evidence is not in their favor and leave it at that.