"Pineapple Express" (2008) - Movie Review

At the end of the “Pineapple Express”, the three hardcore stoners of the film the drug dealer Saul (James Franco), the customer Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) and another drug dealer Red (Danny R. McBride) discuss the action stunts they have been into in the adventure they were and we wonder how it all happened in a film which did not take itself seriously. It is question on whether the action supports the comedy manifested by the main two buddies Saul and Dale who never have landed from the high spot they take from the weeds they smoke. At times very funny and many a times running on literally “running”, this would make a cult but does not last long when the guns are brought to finish the show.

The Apatow team with Seth Rogen penning the screenplay with Evan Goldberg (both wrote “Superbad” before this) smoke screens with so much weed that we little bit feel the float under. Dale is a man of many disguise not to cheat but to serve the subpoenas to people dodging to escape from it. He is a customer for Saul, a youngster passing his day time watching sitcoms and of course dealing drugs. He is naïve and friendly for the business and believes to have a friendship forming with Dale. Dale witnesses a murder one night smoking and runs off with so much attention that the killers drug lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole) and a corrupt cop Carol (Rosie Perez) come out. Now they do not know who it was but sure they find the joint the witness smoked. And that is Pineapple Express which Saul as the only dealer in the city. Chase and run and shoot.

Where was James Franco? If some one told me that this guy who did the role of Peter Parker’s best friend and nemesis of Spider Man is a comic, it would have been the last thing to hit me on the head. He is natural and as Saul the stoner, he is cherubic not stupid, high in a state one could not call it emotional or pure randomness. If the buddy genre is becoming old, Franco works it out his character in a glorious manner bringing more diversity to his abilities in future. Rogen does not need to strain much as he now has done so many forms of Dale Denton’s character in Apatow’s previous productions. But he knows where and what he is playing that even though it is hard to distinguish, there is a variation which makes a huge difference to be Dale Denton and not Ben Stone from “Knocked Up”.

As the second stoner movie of the year after “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay”, I could imagine how smoking weed will be. Confused, dubious and as being drunk, completely dynamite on your judgment in opposite direction and some times that jolt of a reaction brings results of course in unpredictable ways. If the previous film I reviewed today “Bottle Shock” shows wine enthusiasts drinking it in an artful way, then Rogen smokes weed in the same manner that it brings a state of inhaling to us. If I am talking about how it would be then think about the film has it as a whole. It almost runs like weed propaganda. Now what is politically correct and making it legal is an altogether different debate and forum to be discussed about.

“Pineapple Express” is supposed to be said taking inspiration from buddy genre movies and wiki states the all time favourite of mine, “Midnight Run” which is a classic. When some one slip that kind of name, then I got to tell something on how much it does not even live up for the imagination of being compared. For one thing “Midnight Run” has two absolutely opposite characters unbearable to each other yet making it through the journey to reach the destination. It truly has a development in the bonding and a purpose of each other’s presence. This film does not have those and yet takes itself on the planes of seriousness at times which I honestly am not sure whether it is a comedy or drama. The male bonding routine Apatow has been doing in almost all of his films are beginning to lose its charm. Or may be it needs to be twisted and turned up into something else.

“Pineapple Express” definitely has its moments and when they hit it they hit big and bad. It almost makes you worthwhile to sit through for those but the action sequence overdoses unnecessarily and mainly not interesting to watch. It just gets messy and messy in the end that we slowly feel that we are getting sober from the good times. The worst is it turns to be a bad hangover.