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Pineapple Express Movie Review
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July 24, 2008 - Brad "Roach Clip" Smoley (Columnist)
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The team that brought you Superbad returns with another off-the-wall buddy comedy about lovable losers trying to accomplish the near-impossible. However, unlike the familiar and buyable plot of Superbad, Pineapple Express sends you off on a crazy ride that makes about as much sense as you'd expect a movie about pot heads evading a drug lord to make. It's utterly ridiculous, over-the-top, and not nearly as endearing as its super-good predecessor.
Dale Denton is a process server. He delivers summons and subpoenas to people. He also likes marijuana. He buys it from Saul, who thinks they are friends. Dale doesn't see it that way. Anyway, Dale witnesses a murder and enlists Saul's help to try to save his ass from getting killed. Hilarity/gunplay ensues.
The concept is basically the old "accidental action heroes" scheme with the hitch being that your heroes are stoned off their asses on weed for virtually 95% of the movie. The pot hero idea is great if you really love Kevin Smith, or live in a dorm, or are stoned off your ass on weed for virtually 95% of your day. But for those of us who don't touch the stuff or rarely partake, I dunno, it gets kinda old. Luckily, the pot humor used here isn't ridiculously juvenile or blunt (har har) and is used more as a means to an end than as the point of the film.
Which is refreshing since the movie could have gotten bogged down in bong jokes and hilarious "munchies" sequences, but it doesn't. Most of the funny stuff is the classic Judd Apatow (he's a producer) "conversational humor" mixed in with a little gross-out visual stuff. It's pretty typical for these guys and they don't disappoint, firing off a witty quip here or a sarcastic zinger there. The problem is that that kind of humor works best when you're endeared to the characters that type of humor is coming from and frankly, things move way too fast and are way too over-the-top to ever really like anyone.
Speaking of over-the-top, there's a LOT of gore in this movie. I mean, it's used for comedic purposes, but I wasn't expecting the levels of violence from Pineapple Express that Rogen and company gave us. The whole thing is kinda like Half Baked meets Fargo.
The action sequences, especially towards the end of the film, are so weird and out there, that it actually detracts from the film. It's all supposed to be funny, and it is, but they seem to go overboard. There's a winking feeling to the whole thing, as if the film makers were saying "this whole thing was written by pot heads, can't ya tell?"
It was good to see Rogen and Franco reunited from their Freaks & Geeks roots. They're both good in their respective roles, but I'd assume a lot of that has to do with the fact that they probably really do smoke a lot of pot. I'm just glad James Franco showed up and didn't just do Harry Osborn from Spiderman toked out of his mind.
There's a lot of marijuana in this movie, have I mentioned that? Oh, and no, the song from the trailer isn't in it anywhere.
The movie is fun, and I did laugh quite a bit, but it just isn't any better than any other odd-ball comedy you might catch in the theater these days. That's really the biggest disappointment. Pineapple Express is only "good", when we're used to getting "great" from the same people.
If you're looking for something off-the-wall, or if you're a giant stoner, this movie may be for you. But if you're looking for continued Apatow greatness, Pineapple Express is a few bongs short of a hookah bar.
Pineapple Express opens August 8th.
 6/10
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Pineapple Express
Starring:
James Franco
Seth Rogen
Rosie Perez
Gary Cole
Directed by:
David Gordon Green
Written by:
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Rated: R
Language
Drug Use
Sexual References
Violence
Bong
Briefly, how we rate the movies we see...
| 10 |
_Perfect
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| 9 |
_Excellent
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| 8 |
_Great
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| 7 |
_Very Good
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| 6 |
_Good
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| 5 |
_Not Bad
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| 4 |
_Not Good
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| 3 |
_Pretty Bad
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| 2 |
_Really Bad
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| 1 |
_Suck Ass
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| 0 |
_Feces on Film
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