Review: Pineapple Express

A stoner/comedy/action movie: that can’t possibly work, right? Well, when Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (Superbad) team up to write it, Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson (Superbad, Knocked up, 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman) come together to produce it, there’s enough funny and enough talent to make something, literally never seen before, actually work.

The movie opens in the 1930s (don’t worry, it quickly jumps to 2008 ) with a stoned Bill Hader…in the army. It’s starting to sound like an Apatow crew kinda movie right off the bat. The movie is filled with hilariously ridiculous moments, but I’ll get to that in a second. One thing that truly makes this movie work are the returning co-stars from previous Apatow movies. Kevin Corrigan (Mark, the party host, in Superbad) is there, Craig Robinson (bouncer in Knocked Up) is there, Bill Hader as mentioned (Superbad cop), Joe Lo Truglio (the “you guys have myspace?” creeper from Superbad), and other familiar faces make you laugh as soon as you see them. Judd Apatow and co. know funny when they see it, and sticking with the same people isn’t such a bad idea.

I’ll admit that I am completely on the Apatow bandwagon/appreciation club/whatever you want to call it; I feel obliged to see any and every movie he’s involved with. And it’s not like the guy has a bad track record at all, he’s made some of the best comedies and overall movies of the past number of years and has taken center stage in Hollywood comedy these days. But I was a bit disappointed in Walk Hard, I thought that could have been much funnier that it was even though it was still humorous here and there. But what got me concerned was Forgetting Sarah Marshall earlier this year. It isn’t that I hated the film or even disliked it, hell, I liked it. I wasn’t used to just “liking” an Apatow movie though, and the laughs in that film were few and far between compared to a lot of his other films. This all brings is back again full circle to the movie under review: Pineapple Express. Let me just say this: Apatow and co? You have my full support yet again.

As mentioned this genre of movie hasn’t really been seen before so it was probably a huge hit or miss situation. People are used to seeing Seth Rogen making jokes, not shooting dirty cops. But, even though the writing and screenplay in general isn’t up to par with a 40 Year Old Virgin (few movies are), the movie is certainly a hit, not a miss. Rogen is his usually pudgy, pot smoking (seems he lights up in just about every movie) lovable self, this time around playing a disguise wearing subpoena-giving worker who is dating a girl…well…just a bit young. Some of the better scenes in the movie are when Rogen’s character sits down, or something close to sitting down, to dinner with his girlfriends parents. I’ll just say this: the father shoots at him with a rifle. A much more violent but just as funny version of a Meet the Parents sequence. But what makes this movie really work, and I mean truly transforming a somewhat mediocre script as a whole, into a laugh riot are Rogen’s 2 co-stars: Danny McBride and James Franco.

McBride is Franco’s middle man between the main drug dealer in town (Gary Cole, aka Lumberg from Office Space) and Apatow has recently said in an interview: whoever is funniest will get the most screen time. This time around it seemed like Craig Robinson and McBride are the 2 supporting characters who made the most of that time. A few years ago McBride was a struggling actor in the south just trying to make a name for himself, that was until The Foot Fist Way was seen by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. His new stardom has landed him roles in last year’s Apatow produced Drillbit Taylor, Pineapple Express, and next weeks sure fire hit, Tropic Thunder. Whether it’s getting his head smashed into a toilet, ratting out both Franco and Rogen and his drug lord, or baking a cake for his dead cat (who may or may not have gone to heaven according to his character), he’s comedic gold the entire way through.

James Franco, not Seth Rogen, is the king of funny in this movie (photo: CTSC 412 blog)

But the MVP of this movie and the guy who really made it as funny as it was is certainly James Franco. Now, Franco was part of Freaks and Geeks back in 1999-2000, a short lived TV comedy that Apatow was a huge part of too. Oh, and Seth Rogen was in there as well. However since his days on Geeks, Franco has taken the more serious route to stardom, in films like James Dean (TV movie), all 3 Spider-Man flicks, and Tristan and Isolde (I’m pretty sure nobody saw that though). Even looking at his IMDB page, he has some more non-comedies lined up in the near future. However before the release of Express he got the internet buzz with really funny short pieces on Funny or Die: “Acting with James Franco.” But after seeing him absolutely nail this drug dealer, Saul, to perfection in Express, I really hope he delves back into comedy again at some point. Not only is his physical appearance fantastic but his slurred and slow speech coupled with off the wall observations make him a standout in this movie. He’s dumb, yes, but his constantly high character has heart too, and when he tries to show any kind of emotion, or even try to save the day, it’s absolutely hysterical. Franco and Rogen are the co-stars to this movie, and they play off each other in a great way. But there’s little doubt that Franco steals the show.

One problem I had watching this was that the lines are so rapid, so back and forth, that you miss some funny stuff. I was laughing during many scenes, as was the entire theater, and thus unable to hear what Franco was softly muttering next. But besides that, there weren’t a lot of problems throughout Express. Is the script perfect? No, but the characters make up for it. Could it be labeled typical, dumb stoner humor? I guess so, yes, but you should know what kind of movie this is before you buy your ticket at the theater. This film isn’t trying to be anything more than it is and it thrives on its stupidity throughout the 1:45 run-time. Not a fan of pot humor coupled with over the top action? See Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, I hear that’s a gem. Apatow has reminded me, and many others yet again, that his team of writers, producers, and actors are still taking Hollywood by storm. The story changed, sometimes the characters do too, but the laughter never does. Besides Step Brothers, I haven’t seen another movie this year where the laughs are every minute. Pineapple Express is what it is, a stoner/comedy/action movie, and tries to be nothing more. And it succeeds in every way.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS: (out of 4 stars)