Pineapple Express is another quite funny Judd Apatow production

Rating: 7/10 (21 August 2008)

Since tomorrow is the birthday of my friend who works at a movie theatre, I let him pick the movie we were going to see today. He picked this one (I'm just glad he didn't pick the third Mummy movie). Once again produced by Judd Apatow, this is star Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg's second screenplay after Superbad from last year. I actually liked this one better than that especially when the "witnessing the murder" sequence kicked in. There are some scenes though that, while they might be funny, later makes me wonder what relation they have to the plot. Like the beginning black and white scene that takes place in 1937 with Apatow regular and current SNLer Bill Hader. He is indeed funny in his scene but before that, I wondered if I stumbled into the wrong movie. Rogen himself, though, is throughly deadpan hilarious whether nonchalantly romancing his 18-year-old high school girlfriend at her learning center or straight-out telling her parents (Ed Begley, Jr. and former SNLer Nora Dunn) during dinner about being chased by some hit men. And his former co-star from "Freaks and Geeks", James Franco, matches Seth in offbeat humor whether driving a police car with his foot stuck in the windshield or helping his buddy in untying while he's also in likewise situation. And then there's a third party that manages to stay alive despite being shot at a lot. The stuff with the Asian hit men and Gary Cole and cop Rosie Perez as lovers seems so much filler though they have their moments too. So in summation, Pineapple Express may be a little long but that length provides a pretty satisfying whole for me to recommend.