‘Pineapple Express’ high five
Review:
As I drove home from the screening of “Pineapple Express,” I began to wonder if there is some sort of secret trend in the realm of telemarketing that involves hiding under your desk to roll fatties in between calls. If that’s not the case, then smoking all day at home must really be the easiest job on earth. That seems to be Judd Apatow’s opinion as a comedic genius. He can turn aging virgins into heroes, accentuate every positive in an unwanted pregnancy, and now he’s turned weed into a “dame to kill for” in a film that combines raw buddy humor with smoking guns and lethal drugs. It’s wild, it’s funny, and it’s even a little… violent. “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” had their respective moments to shine with such variation, but Quentin Tarantino should be very proud, because I haven’t seen guns and drugs mixed this deadly since Kurt Cobain.
In his natural stoner form, Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a slacker employee who looks forward to nothing but smoking weed at the end of a “tumultuous” day. I’m not sure if it comes with his Apatow fraternity contract, or if it’s just too easy for him, but somehow, Rogen only gets funnier and funnier as he repeats the same role for a third time here. Only this time around, the weed doesn’t come as easy. And if anyone else in need tries to stop him, Rogen has the privilege of using guns to protect his “source of release.” As in “40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” Rogen successfully improvises much of his humor outside the lines, but the real treat of this “Express train” is James Franco (yes, the punk redhead from all the Spiderman movies) as he jumps from superhero to super high… and he didn’t even have to throw a single pumpkin bomb, or wear that ridiculous goblin outfit to prove he has class.
Franco portrays drug dealer Saul Silver; a role that in the simplest terms, makes him look like a baked version of Carrot Top. And I can only assume that this Top came with a hair straightener, which is one of many things a man with profitable hash can afford. Maybe it’s because we’re not used to this different look, but Franco’s performance is so wild and crazy that it steals the show to the point in which it practically demands to be remembered. When I say steal the show here, I don’t mean that Franco is the real lead; but that he is the most knowledgeable, which is somewhat of a paradox seeing as how he spends about 95 percent of the film under the influence. He rolls cross joints, smokes all day to “educate himself,” and on top of all that, he owns the “dopest dope” in town; a little bag of something called Pineapple Express.
After purchasing a small share of the fruity reefer, Dale inadvertently witnesses a murder, and flees the scene in panic while unknowingly leaving behind a little dip. It’s just too bad the drug is so rare that it can be traced back to its owner. This puts Dale and Saul in a race for their lives as they jump town with a crooked police officer and a notorious drug lord hot on their trail. They’ll run, they’ll hide, and of course… they’ll smoke a whole lot of weed before they grab a little assistance from Saul’s nutcase pal Red (Danny McBride) as the slackers prepare to confront their pursuers in a final act that mixes quite a bit of spaghetti with all the smoke hanging above everyone’s head.
Much like last year’s teen classic “Superbad,” Rogen and his partner in crime Evan Goldberg have once again penned a screenplay that lives on constant cursing and countless pop culture references. The lingo is more set on an adult atmosphere, and not so much their personal experiences, but that doesn’t change a bit of the quality. It actually makes the humor more fresh and enjoyable. Unless of course, one of these comedic icons tried hitchhiking through their zipper at one point.
Like other Apatow productions, the experts have handed the director’s chair to someone with prior success, as they bring on David Gordon Green (Undertow) to call the shots. Green’s indie experience is certainly a crucial instrument to its greatness, but judging by the plot and story outline, this will forever be a film with Judd Apatow’s name on it; maybe not on paper, but certainly on his cult legacy.
Whether it was going to White Castle, or escaping from Guantanamo Bay this past spring, John Cho and Kal Penn really put the “tradition” back into the buddy comedy realm; a tradition that not only made us laugh ourselves sore, but reminded us of the good ol’ days when Cheech and Chong went ‘Up in Smoke.’ ‘Pineapple Express’ may not have the same cultural connection as Harold & Kumar, but from an Apatow perspective, Dale and Saul have more gags than you can possibly handle, and enough of weed to send ‘Grandma’s Boy’ home. I expected good stuff when I saw the first teasers last December, but I never anticipated that I’d be laughing so hard, half the jokes would be drowned out (no, I didn’t piss my pants… I swear!). Better than ‘Knocked Up?’; absolutely. Funnier than ‘Superbad?’; arguable, but I’d say so. Comedy of the year?… if not the decade!
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Aug 8 2008. Filed under Reviews.
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