Pineapple Express

Rating: 6/10 (10 December 2011)

From producer Judd Apatow and the creators of Knocked Up and Superbad, I assumed this film was something to do with trains when I heard about it LOL, but when I saw it advertised I was up for it. Basically Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, also writing) doesn't have a proper job, a clerk delivering court-process letters, and he constantly gets stoned, always going to his faithful dealer Saul Silver (Golden Globe nominated James Franco) who is just as lazy as him. Saul has a new drug amongst his usual weed, a rare new strain of marijuana called Pineapple Express, and after buying this Dale witnesses a man he was due to deliver a letter to get murdered by corrupt police officer Carol (White Men Can't Jump's Rosie Perez). Knowing that someone witnessed the murder, drug lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole) spots the Pineapple Express joint, and he knows it is only sold by one dealer, so he sends henchmen Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan) and Matheson (Craig Robinson) to deal with Saul's dealer Red (Danny McBride). Dale realises that the gangster will be after him, so the two of them go on the run, and after sleeping in the woods they go and see Red and see if they are in danger, but it turns into a big fight, and after they conclude that they should flee the city. Dale decides that his girlfriend Angie Anderson (Drive Angry's Amber Heard) and her parents Robert (Ed Begley Jr.) and Shannon (Nora Dunn) should warn them about what is going on, they don't believe him, but Budlofsky and Matheson do stop by their house, but not before they go into hiding. To raise money and leave town Saul sells off his Pineapple Express, and Dale ends up arrested trying to, but he convinces the police that Brazier is corrupt, Saul saves him by hijacking a police car, and they narrowly miss Brazier trying to kill them in a chase. After an argument where friendship was questioned the two friends part ways, and while visiting his grandmother Saul spots the two henchmen looking for him, and they kidnap him taking him to Ted's lair. After trying to get a just about alive Red to help him, Dale manages to get kidnapped as well, and the two friends back together, in captivity in the underground army base full of marijuana, they do make up. They are only able to escape when a rival Asian drug lord storms the base, and the brawl ends in both Ted and Brazier killed, and Red saves them as well. They manage to get out of the place alive, and just in time before a bomb exploded, and in the end Dale, Saul and Red have a celebratory meal in a café, and all agree to go to hospital together when the grandmother picks them up. Also starring Bill Hader as Private Miller, James Remar as General Bratt and The Hangover's Ken Jeong as Ken. Rogen and Franco do great as the two drugs smoking buddies on the run, and the other actors all do their parts fine as well, it is a reasonably simple story, but the getting high and gangster situation jokes do rather well, and this is a really fun bromance film, a fun action crime comedy. Good!