Anthony's Film Review - Pineapple Express (2008)

Two likable stoners plus an outrageous adventure equals a cinematic good time...

Pineapple Express is one of those comedies that manages to include a lot of explicit, irreverent humor without turning off much of the audience in any way. I say this because I don't get anywhere near any kind of marijuana in real life, yet I was captivated by the two stars of this movie, Seth Rogen and James Franco as pot buyer Dale Denton and pot dealer Saul Silver, respectively. The combination of their amusing performances and how their characters are perhaps no different from us when it comes to tense situations is what makes this movie work.

In the beginning of the movie, Dale and Saul are in their own little world of pot smoking. Dale comes over to Saul's place to buy some pot but ends up spending a bit of time bonding with Saul. It's rather interesting to see these two guys and their fascination with weed, especially as Saul possesses a rare potent form of marijuana called Pineapple Express. Seth Rogen plays the role of the average Joe rather well, and James Franco is amusing and barely recognizable with his long hair and slight mustache.

Then the fun really begins. One night, Dale is in his car as he witnesses the murder of an Asian drug dealer by a corrupt cop (played by Rosie Perez) and a drug dealer named Ted Jones (played by Gary Cole). Unfortunately, the two killers spot Dale, who quickly throws his marijuana joint out of the car to avoid getting caught by the police. As Dale explains to Saul after rushing to him, the situation is now a matter of life and death. The joint Dale threw out was Pineapple Express, he is the only one using that kind of pot, and Saul is the only dealer selling it. There's a good chance that the killers can trace the joint back to them.

As they go on the run, Dale and Saul find themselves in plenty of funny situations. They get into a long physical fight with a middleman named Red (played by Danny McBride) that destroys much of Red's house. Dale has a girlfriend in high school who invites him to dinner with her parents, and when he comes over, he scares the family by telling them that drug dealers are out to kill him. In another scene, Dale and Saul sell some pot to a few teenage boys, which quickly leads to an exciting car chase where Saul is commandeering a police car while being chased by the corrupt woman cop. All of this leads to the climax that really pulls the movie into the genre of action, but it's still an entertaining comedy.

As you can see, you don't need to be high to enjoy Pineapple Express. The movie starts out pretty good, then slowly gets better. In terms of my scale of 1 to 10, Pineapple Express starts out at a 7 and becomes an 8 by the time it's over. It delivers plenty of laughs through its two likable main characters. This is definitely one of Seth Rogen and James Franco's better movies, not to mention a memorable movie from producer Judd Apatow, who knows how to mix good taste without sacrificing raunchy humor.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Pineapple Express, visit the Internet Movie Database.