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Pineapple Express
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Starring: Seth Rogen
Genre:
Comedy/Action-Adventure
Run Time: 111
min.
Release Date:
August 2008
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
After hearing just about
everyone I know gush about PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, I finally got
around to watching it. Perhaps I waited too long, or perhaps I’ve seen
another movie that leaves it in the dust. But, for whatever reason,
there just wasn’t much appeal for me.
The film I’m referring to that left Pineapple Express in the dust is
none other than
TROPIC THUNDER. Some might find the comparison unfair,
but it really isn’t. Both have that Jerry Bruckheimer-esque action
quality to them. Both bill themselves as heavy comedies. And both have
plenty of star power. But Pineapple Express started out slow, building
up steam before finally getting several guffaws out of me, while Tropic
Thunder did it from the first moment the screen lit up.
More like a modernization of a Cheech and Chong flick, Pineapple Express
shows the imbecility of the marijuana culture but does so by placing it
within the vehicle of friendship. Seth Rogen (KNOCKED UP) stars as a
30-something-year-old loser Dale Denton who’s job is that of a process
server. And he’s good at it. He could serve a summons on the pope if he
had to. But he’s also heavily into pot and gets it from his
dealer-turned-buddy Saul Silver (James Franco,
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH).
Everything is going along fine (including Dale hooking up with an
18-year-old high school hottie) until he witnesses the murder of a
Chinese man at the hands of drug lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole,
TALLADEGA
NIGHTS) and a female police officer (Rosie Perez). Troubles deepen as
Dale becomes paranoid after smoking some of the new bud he’d purchased
called Pineapple Express. Saul, his dealer, is the only one in the city
who has the stuff, and when Dale panicked and left behind a roach after
fleeing the scene of the murder, Ted figures out who the witness might
be and sends a couple of thugs out to find him.
Dale and Saul flee for their lives, not that they were initially in
danger, and into the woods, where they continue tokin’ and eventually
fall into a deep comatose state. When they awaken many hours later, they
formulate a plan to find out if anyone is looking for them. They head
out to Saul’s distributor, a guy named Red (Danny R. McBride,
TROPIC
THUNDER) who initially tries to turn them in but later changes his karma
and becomes practically immune to bullet holes.
Although there are some laugh-out-loud funny moments, they don’t come
until later in the film. One particularly funny scene involves Red
crashing through a burning barn in a car, instantly killing a thug, and
then jumping from the car and shooting the dead guys foot off. Both
crude and grossly hysterical.
The ending is fairly anticlimactic with the stoned-out, burned-out,
beat-up, and shot-up trio (Dale, Saul, and Red) sitting in a café
waiting for a ride and sucking down food in a post-smoking haze. Not
much to laugh about there. Perhaps I wasn’t toked-up enough myself....
(back to top) |
Image from Pineapple
Express
DVD cost: $16.91
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The red slurpee Saul
spills over the windshield of the cop car was darkened in the trailer
after it was discovered that audiences were mistaking it for blood.
Movie Quote: "In
case you haven't noticed - which you haven't, 'cause from what I can
tell, you don't notice anything ever - we are not very functional when
we're high."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Pineapple Express
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