(Shoot'em) Up in smoke!

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2019)

"Pineapple Express" is a 2008 action comedy directed by David Gordon Green starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. The moment I read the names Apatow, Rogen and Goldberg in the opening credits I knew that the upcoming flick is gonna be pure comedy gold. It's always remarkable to see how Seth Rogen manages to play himself in every film he appears in. He always plays the sympathic and clumsy stoner, but it's not even a bad thing. It will probably never happen that he wins an Oscar, but it always fills me with joy to watch his on screen shenanigans. In this film it's not different. In the beginning, it was somewhat boring because it seemed like the rest of the film is gonna be only about the philosophy of super stoners, but as the first shot was fired I knew I was in for an amusing genre mix. As usual, the chemistry between Rogen and Franco (obviously) made the characters extremely sympathic. The plot itself offers some surprising twists and well written action scenes, decorated with unexpected brutal effects and extraordinary twists. I mean, how is it possible that two potheads that smoke one joint per scene end up in a war between American and Chinese drug mafia? At times it's just ridiculous nonsense, at times it's extremely sophisticated comedy. Of course it's strange to see the two lead actors carrying guns and Gary Cole as merciless mobster, but in this case it works out, because the film doesn't take itself too seriously and knows what it actually is. Also the appearances of other members of the Apatow bunch make it a lot more funnier. In conclusion, this stoner feature delivers decent fun with a weird combination of action and comedy, a usual great cast and hilarious writing that doesn't go into a infantile direction. Behind all the (gun-)smoke there's heart and that's all it needs. Entertaining and surprisingly good comedy.