This is their brains on drugs.

Rating: 6/10 (13 April 2017)

A description of the characters and the plot make the film sound as silly as an old Popeye cartoon, but it does have its moments and adults ought to find it almost as amusing as its target audience of teens. You'd never think laughs could still be gotten out of weed heads but marijuana works here as a kind of plot engine. If it weren't for some dynamite pot known as "Pineapple Express," nothing would have happened.
It's Los Angeles and there are two high-echelon drug organizations at war -- one run by Gary Cole, the other by Asians. The two protagonists -- Rogen and Franco -- are everyday users, with Franco a small time dealer and Rogen a process server. (Franco, in all seriousness, "What do you serve? Like, hamburgers?") Rogen witnesses a murder by Cole, flips away his roach and flees the scene with a great deal of commotion. Cole watches the car speed away, picks up the discarded butt, puffs on it, and says "Pineapple Express." Alas, the brand is so rare that it can easily be traced to dealer Franco. Realizing this, and it's one of the few things they DO realize, Rogen and Franco hastily pack up and leave everything behind. The rest of the movie is largely a story of pursuit, with shootings, a high speed car chase, various explosions and a general atmosphere of hysteria.
It's pretty funny. The most outrageous performance is by Seth Rogen who gives expert imitations of flooding out with fear, screaming hoarsely, waving his arms, weeping. Franco, comparatively speaking, has a Zen quality about him. Craig Robinson, as a semi-moronic hit man, gives a splendid performance and is given some good lines. "You know, I may look tough but I have feelings too, and you just hurt every one of them." But then many of the lines are -- well, not exactly WITTY, but funny nevertheless. While they are discussing their perilous situation, Rogen asks Franco if it's really possible for Cole and his gang to track them down. How could they do it? Franco, befuddled by dope, muses, "I don't know. Bloodhounds maybe. Dogs. Barracudas." There's a good deal of slapstick at the end during a bloody but still comic shootout, but that too is well choreographed. Grownups ought to get a kick out of at least some of the scenes and some of the dialog.