Pretty friggin hilarious

Rating: 8/10 (8 September 2008)

I'm not exactly a die-hard Apatow fan, with the exception of his work on Anchorman. I'll admit that when I can watch his movies with a buddy, rather than my wife, I enjoy them a lot more, as his movies are really geared more towards younger male crowds. Superbad, while having its funny parts, was a little over the top most the time. And although Forgetting Sarah Marshall had some great laughs and a decent storyline, the sex scenes and crotch shots just get ridiculous.
That being said as to state my position on Apatow films (as it seems most the time, people are either die hard fans or flatout hate his movies, whereas I'm kinda in the middle), I thought Pineapple Express may have been the funniest Apatow film I've seen since Anchorman. Naturally, as with nearly all his projects since Anchorman, this movie contains plenty of language. But it doesn't seem to distract from the movie so much. When I saw Tropic Thunder, even without my wife being there, the language from the character Les Grossman (played by a noteworthy cameo) was a bit much. All I could think was "Man...my wife would hate this". In Pineapple Express, I didn't really notice the language so much as to give me that same feeling. I was aware it was there, but it didn't seem to detract so much from the movie. I was also glad to see the movie absent of gratuitous naked shots, which have become a norm in Apatow films. The drug use really didn't bother me throughout the film, even though it's pretty much a constant the whole time. But watching a guy smoke a doobie on screen just doesn't really offend me on the same level as a male crotch scene or loading the movie up with extremely tasteless profanity. And while I've seen some people comment on the gore, it wasn't really that bad (well...it was no Rambo). At the end, it did have a little more, but it was always in a comedic manor and added heavily to the humor.
With all the pre-warnings out of the way regarding the reasons for the R rating, let me just tell you that this film is hilarious. You have to really understand the type of humor used in this film and understand the subtle jokes, slapstick, and random spoofs (don't worry, when I say spoof....I don't mean in a Disaster Movie or Epic Movie kind of way). While this could be considered a "stoner movie", the film is actually quite brilliant in the sense of comedy. It never takes itself seriously, and if you ever think it's about to, it turns right around and turns the situation into a well setup joke. The plot isn't elaborate and if you're looking for a "smart" comedy with a thick storyline.....well....you're a moron for thinking this film might be that. It's pretty much a plot thrown together for the most part to make you laugh, just as Anchorman or Dumb & Dumber. But also just like the aforementioned movies, you still get wrapped up in the plot and characters because it's just so dang funny.
I don't really know how else to explain the movie. It's clever, witty, entertainingly stupid, and just downright fun. It's one of the better comedies I've seen in several years. I'd say go see it with a group of guys, and you'll all be rolling.