A great throwback to the 1980's buddy action flick

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2008)

After an impromptu, albeit hilarious, history lesson, Pineapple Express jumps into telling us the story of Dale Denton (Seth Rogen), a process server who loves to smoke marijuana at any time of day. His dealer, Saul (James Franco), is only happy to further provide him with his drug habit. On a routine call for his job, Dale witnesses a murder at the home of Ted Jones (Gary Cole). Having nowhere else to run, he turns to Saul, open to end up on the run from Jones' men.
After being disappointed with Step Brothers, I was not sure if I should really getting excited for Pineapple Express. It was from the master of comedy himself, Judd Apatow, and starred and was co-written by his golden boy, Rogen. It sounded like more of a sure thing, and for the most part, it turned out to be.
I was a little surprised, but for all the film is made out to be a stoner comedy, it is actually more in vein with a buddy action flick from the 1980's. There are explosions, gratuitous violence (a lot more than I ever could have expected), a car chase, fight scenes and plenty of one-liners. Some may write it off as a spoof of these flicks, but unlike the recent Apatow-driven Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Pineapple Express is its own near original idea. It embraces the conventions of the genre, and turns them on their head by making the two main characters potheads who are high off and on for most of the movie.
The sheer silliness of that idea is what makes the film work. The characters Rogen and Franco play are the complete opposite of any character we have seen in similar situations before. They talk and act frantic, and when it comes down to business, they look terrified taking part in any thing that happens. While the script does not seem to be as improvised as past Apatowian films, it seems to allow these two the freedom to make complete goofs of themselves but still seem serious enough to lead this kind of movie.
The script itself is not perfect by any means. It leaves a lot of loose ends, and packs itself down, leaving some supporting characters very little to do. Rather surprisingly, it does not offer the same amount of laughs as Step Brothers had either. Whether this is because some of the action set pieces are more thrilling than they are funny, or that the lines are not as ridiculously improvised left the film missing out is unclear. But fortunately, it does include an intriguing storyline that works as a cohesive whole, and ties together some key drug related themes, and even manages to include some morality too. It runs a little lengthy (as expected), and much of the added weight seems to be in the form of Rogen's scenes alongside his character's high school-aged girlfriend, Angie (Amber Heard). As good an idea as it is to include a love interest, she weighs the film down with exposition it did not need, and unfortunately underwrites the entire relationship. It affords the film some large laughs, but not at the same frequency as the rest of the cast.
Relatively new director David Gordon Green has created a unique film for the growing canon of Apatowian films. On one hand, it feels like it could belong to the same family as Superbad, Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But unlike those movies, it looks much different. Green gives the film a gritty look for its majority, and even at its brightest times, seems to make everything look washed out. He also has a habit of focusing on one character at a time, giving them the time to say what they need to, and moving on to the next person. It is never distracting, but it is obvious from the very beginning that someone with a different look and feel for things is behind the camera, as opposed to just an Apatow regular.
Acting wise, the film is fairly solid.
Rogen and Franco are near perfect in their roles. Their chemistry is outstanding, and their franticness helps make the movie truly believable, even as it descends into being fairly random. While I knew that Rogen would be able to portray the role well, I was surprised by just how good Franco was. This is nothing I would have ever expected him in, and I doubt anyone else ever thought they would see him here. But he delivers an even better performance than he did in any Spider-Man film, and easily may be some of his best work to date. He gets the most laughs in the film, and going on sheer looks, it is not any wonder why.
The supporting cast, including Cole, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson and Rosie Perez are all great additions to the cast. While I would have liked a bit more exposition from Cole and Perez, the scenes they do have allow the film to have perfect 80's style villains, and fit right into the film's mould. Corrigan and Robinson, both having worked in Apatow films before, do very well for themselves here in extended roles. Their chemistry, while not as good as Rogen and Franco's, give the film another angle for viewing, and offer some pretty hilarious moments.
The real marvel here is Danny McBride. I was not a big fan of his, but he is downright hysterical here. He steals scenes from just about everyone, and actually makes his distinct brand of angered humour funny. I guess he just needed the right role, and this was it.
While it was not exactly what I was expecting, I can say that I did genuinely enjoy Pineapple Express. Its unique style sets it apart, and who could say no to a film with a theme song by Huey Lewis and the News?
7.5/10.