Expected more from them

Rating: 6/10 (6 August 2008)

Seth Rogen is on a roll (p.s I'm dismissing his Drillbit Taylor screenplay, as did most people). "Knocked Up", last summers surprise hit, turned the doughy, curly headed actor into a surprise leading man and "Superbad", a movie he wrote along with Evan Goldberg and co-starred in, was what I still believe to be the best film of last year. He has been in a number of supporting roles since, most recently in "Step Brothers", but with "Pineapple Express" he, along with partner Evan Goldberg, get to prove two more things. One is that Rogen can solidify himself as the next comedic breakout star and the other is that he and Goldberg are two of the best comedy writers working in movies today. And then on the other side of the camera you have director David Gordon Green, whose done most of his work in drama (Snow Angels) and even darker drama (Undertow) and making his first leap into mainstream comedy. So the questions are: Can Rogen be the next Will Ferrell? Can he and Goldberg write another great, hilarious movie or was "Superbad" just a fluke? And finally, can Green make the jump to mainstream film and is he the right choice for comedy?
Rogen playsDale, a process server dating a High School senior who spends most ofhis days getting high off the weed he gets from Saul (James Franco), a dealer who spends most of his days getting high and watching old sitcoms. When Dale witnesses a murder at the home of Ted Jones (Gary Cole), both he and Saul are forced to run for their lives. While theyare figuring out what they can do and who they can trust, as even the cops seem to be in on the hit, Ted Jones is preparing for drug war with an Asian crime family.
This movie is a pretty minor entry in the summer season, so minor in fact that I really can't even muster much to say about it. I'm not saying it's a terrible movie nor am I saying that it doesn't make you laugh on occasion but it's a fairly minimal one-joke comedy that swaps clever humor for cheap laughs usually. At its center is a love for the Cheech and Chong bits, two ridiculously high guys trying to understand each through the haze of marijuana. Your love for this stuff will pretty much depend on how hilarious you think stoners are. Me? I thought it was amusing but kept hoping that the movie would sprout some clever ideas around the stoner jokes. Sadly, the rest of the movie is based around easy penis gags and four letter words but nothing all that hilarious or memorable. The few action scenes work a little better, with a car chase and a bloody ending shoot-out to liven things up a bit.
Rogen and Franco are two likable guys in this movie but that's about all I can say for them. They seem to have a good grasp on the material but the movie isn't really trying and neither are they. The rest of the cast is also fairly undefinable, all playing their roles but being called upon to do very little. Danny McBride comes off the best as Saul's lying idiot of a best friend and its good to see Rosie Perez and Gary Cole in a movie, even though neither one can do much with this material.
"Pineapple Express" isn't a bad movie and most likely it's the stoner movie most stoners want but I'm just saying from the people who made "Superbad" and who seem to have a good grasp on what's funny, "Express" is kind of a lazy and minor entry in the world of comedy. In other words, I expected better.