Seth Rogen and James Franco smoke their way through some serious shit like the Cheech and Chong of the new millenium with more guns and pot plants in "Pineapple Express". A "smash-em-up", stash, shoot and crash bash which mixes comedy with a relatively thick crime-ring scenario and a fair dose of mental retardation. If you are clear-headed(like Rogen is on rare occasion), you might be thinking something isn't right at various parts. If you are high as a kite, you will just laugh whether someone is getting shot, mauled or run over with a car.
[Don't be confused and think you are in the wrong movie like I did when the story starts with a black-and-white scene from 1937.] Rogen plays Dale Denton, a process server who obviously hates his job(seeing how everyone he serves a subpoena treats him) if not for having weed along for the ride to take his mind off things. His dealer/slash friend, Saul Silver(Franco), tells him about a powerful new breed of marijuana called Pineapple Express. This little story he tells leads Denton to his next service which involves--ironically--the drug boss(Gary Cole) at the top of Silver's chain of command. After witnessing a murder at the hands of said drug boss and a female cop(played very nicely by Rosie Perez), Denton is on the run. Hooking up with his buddy Silver(Franco), they make some startling realizations and flee the scene(half-baked). [A substory with Denton's teenage girlfriend is rather pointless to the whole.] After a dizzy-ing night together, the two "friends" pay Silver's supplier, Red(a very disturbing and seemingly invincible character played by Danny R McBride), a visit which lights the fuse to a lengthy chase and shootout which eventually brings in the drug competition(simply classified as "the Asians"). Questions of friendship are repeatedly addressed(at least once in a typically visual and sexual way). Plenty of various breeds of marijuana are smoked in a few different ways with varying results/moods. And, in the end, friendship seems to win over all else.
Despite the excess of language, marijuana-smoking insanity and violence, there is a semblance of a decent crime/suspense story and humorous bits(depending on your preferences/taste in humor). I was dazzled by the potential for a seedy story and the haunting music from the trailers even though the premise didn't woo me. I am familiar with "pot movies" and should realize they will most often involve a story that isn't as much about making sense as they are about acting stupid. As Rogen says in the movie, pot makes everything better. So, I assume those who indulge in such things(or at least hang-out with marijuana smokers often) might call this film hilarious. I am not of the 420 society but have met a few potheads. I also realize teenagers(or those with a teenage mentality) are naturally inclined to indulge in this sort of movie. [I was not crazy about the two young girls sitting down the row from me giggling and gabbing during most of the movie like--ironically--"giggly little school girls". They--and a trailer for another member of the "Superbad" and "Juno" cast--made me think that anything goes sexually(and regarding drugs) and that we should be very afraid of what becomes of younger and younger generations.]
So, before I think I'm on drugs as I stare at the shape of Seth Rogen's rabbit-like teeth, I will give "Pineapple Express" 2.75 stars out of five(two stars out of four). [Rated R at just under two hours long.] If you have a high tolerance for the content or even favor stupidity, you may rate this slightly or greatly higher. It is not the worst movie I have seen by far. I could even sit through it again(after seeing as a whole) if just to relive the "adventure". But, otherwise, I stood on the fence and felt I had to fall back on the negative side. The attempt at creating a spectacle comedy seems more costly to the world(and all the cars/property involved in the movie) than entertaining.
--brainstormer, free-lance movie critic and participant in the Thoughts.com blogging experience.
[Oh. I made a terrible mistake. I'm going to save you.]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pineapple_Express
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