Pineapple smokes all other stoner films

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

Ever since Cheech and Chong appeared in "Up In Smoke" the stoner film has become a staple of American Cinema. I have enjoyed them since day one. Last night, I was privileged to see an advance screening of Apatow's funniest film to date by far, and I really enjoyed all his other films. The audience and I were laughing so hard that I need to see it again to pick up on the jokes that I missed. It has been a long time since I have seen a stoner film stoned, but I may have to make an exception the second time around.
I believe that when Apatow, Rogen, and Goldberg decided to write Pineapple Express they wanted to create the Lawrence of Arabia of stoner flicks,and they succeeded. Pineapple Express is the stoner film that has reset the bar for stoner films, just like The Dark Knight has reset the bar for comic book films.
James Franco's Saul Silver who just deals drugs to pay for his Boobie's nursing home (He plans to become a civil engineer and be able to build toilets for kids in public parks.) is the greatest stoner character of all time. He has dethroned Sean Penn's Spicoli character after over 25 years of holding the honor of Celluloid stoner king.
I don't want to ruin any of the jokes for you, but I am pretty sure every teen and college male in America will be quoting dozens of lines from the film within weeks and spoiling it for the main intended demographic, so I say go opening weekend before your buddy who saw it the day before starts spouting some of the films best lines.
I had one minor quibble with the story in that at one point Saul sells pot to some pretty young kids and there is a funny bit built around that, but I wish they had at least chosen seniors in high school or something for that scene. I believe pot is less harmful than alcohol, tobacco, and of course all other illegal drugs, but that was just a bit too young for me.
Anyway minor quibbles aside, Pineapple Express is one of the funniest comedies ever made, and undisputed king of the stoner flicks.