I only regret that I wasn't stoned

Rating: 10/10 (25 August 2008)

I loved this movie. I laughed. I cried (from laughing). I nearly lost a lung (from coughing, from laughing too hard). I think I got a contact high from the theater. Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Judd Apatow really know how to put together a film that meets your expectations without being completely formulaic, and the writing was superb. I spent a good hour just laughing and talking about the best parts of the movie with a friend, and how there was hardly a dull spot in the film. But it was James Franco, taking a complete 180 on his serious, brooding anti-hero kind of character and becoming the incredibly lovable drug dealer that just MADE it.
I grew up with several stoner kids, and James Franco just made me think of the sweetest, funniest, cuddliest one I knew. His apartment, his clothes, his behavior, it was all so authentic stoner, without making him the outrageously over the top stereotype that would be Spicoli or Cheech and Chong in another era. We all knew Seth Rogen was a funny guy going in, and, while I had faith in James Franco's ability to change it up and tackle a new sort of character from the trailers, I was honestly surprised at how well he was able to steal the show and comedically outshine Rogen.
My only regret is that I wasn't stoned when I went to see it.