Offbeat Characters Steal the Movie !

Rating: 9/10 (15 August 2008)

The actual plot of this movie is nothing special, but I don't think that is what this movie is really about. It is about the very special friendship between Dale and Saul. You can label it a " stoner movie " if you want to, but I think it insults the talent involved. Dale ( Seth Rogen ) is a process server who hands out subpoenas and lives a rather dull life , but has a teen girlfriend and likes to get high. Saul is a hard pot head who sells weed and likes to get high watching 227 ( who doesn't ) but they are thrown together after Dale witnesses a murder. What culminates is a journey, where they meet several strange and odd characters as they try to escape with their lives. It ends with a massive and very violent shoot-out that some-what does not quite fit the beginning of the movie. Why is this a great movie is because of the characters and the actors portraying them. Seth and James Franco , as Saul, are 2 of the most unlikely heroes in film and they play off each other perfectly. The supporting cast is beyond reproach. Ed Begley Jr and Nora Dunn are hysterical as the teen girls' parents and Gary Cole and Rosie Perez give real edges to potential cardboard characters. The real find is Danny McBride as the hard to kill Red, a backstabbing go-between who steals every scene he is in. I know people knock comedic actors, but he is very deserving of an Oscar nod for his wonderful work. It isn't the lines he says , but it is the way he says them that will have you rolling ( no pun ) in the aisles. The rest of the cast work well and by the end, you may be thinking about the friends you have in your life and you may want to tell them how special they are because this movie is not about weed and such, it is about finding a true friend and knowing that they will always be with you no matter what.