Apatow still on a roll

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2008)

If last year's hits, "Knocked Up" and "Superbad," were the movie-comedy equivalent of grand slam homeruns, then the latest concoction by producer Judd Apatow - this one entitled "Pineapple Express" after some killer weed - is at the very least a solid triple. More contrived in its storyline than those two earlier films, but no less hilarious on that account, "Pineapple Express" is the tale of two certified potheads, Dale and Saul, who are forced to go on the lam after Dale accidentally witnesses a murder by a big-time drug dealer.
As both a producer and a writer, Apatow's distinctive trademark is lowbrow slapstick crossed with highbrow wit. In "Pineapple Express," Apatow and his co-scenarists Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg are not afraid to let their scenes run on a bit, resulting in a natural comic rhythm that allows the humor to grow organically out of the dialogue, characters and situations. This has been billed in some quarters as the "pot comedy," and while there are indeed many jokes that revolve around being stoned, the drug aspect is often incidental to what is really going on in the movie. Directed by David Gordon Green, "Pineapple Express" joins a long list of recent comedies about men who refuse to grow up and accept the responsibility of being adults. Yet, unlike, say, "Step Brothers," "Pineapple Express" never talks down to its audience. Even the slapstick is performed at a surprisingly high level of sophistication, and the movie features one of the most gut-bustingly hilarious car chase sequences we've encountered in quite some time. The movie stumbles only in its closing stretches when it abandons its character-driven humor in favor of action-comedy hijinks.
Seth Rogen duplicates his comical Everyman triumph from "Knocked Up," while James Franco emerges as the most endearing stoner since Sean Penn first burst upon the scene in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" all those years ago.
Add yet another one to the Apatow "win" column.