Pineapple Express Movie Review
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS: A STONEY GOOD TIME
A comedy that will win you over with its stars, Pineapple Express is reminiscent of the days of Cheech and Chong. James Franco is sweet and funny as the spacey pot dealer while Seth Rogen knows his straight man shtick. The plot is silly but the funny moments help you forget that. Gary Cole and Rosie Perez aren’t good villains and their muscle is kind of lame too. But again, there are laugh out loud moments that almost make up for them.
Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) is a process server. He serves people with court papers for lawsuits. He gets through the day with disguises and his endless supply of pot. Saul Silver (James Franco) is his marijuana dealer. Saul introduces him to the Pineapple Express pot, which is apparently the holy grail of weed. When Seth witnesses drug kingpin Ted Jones (Gary Cole) and Carol the cop (Rosie Perez) murdering a competitor, he goes on the run with Saul. They try to stay medicated while outrunning police officers, thugs, drug dealers, and other questionable characters.
The story isn’t great with a debatable plot. But the funny moments that it contains standout. One moment is James Franco and Seth Rogen’s Saul and Dale interacting in the woods after they realize they are being hunted. It is obvious that they work well together. It looks like they had a blast making this movie. Danny McBride is funny as Saul’s supplier Red. The initial fight scene between Dale, Saul, and Red is hilarious. But everybody else is below average. Cole and Perez have forced performances while their hired hands (Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson) can’t decide what character they want to be. Corrigan does the worst Christopher Walken impression while Robinson can’t decide if he is gay or not. Saul’s apartment is exactly how you would picture a pot dealer’s looking like. And the chase scene with Rogen and Franco in the police car is a sight that will crack you up.
The premise of the story is a good one but it goes downhill as the films goes on. If it wasn’t for Franco and Rogen, the movie would not be as funny and enjoyable.
Pineapple Express continues the tradition of stoner comedies. The main good guys get high, find trouble, and spend the rest of the movie trying to get out of it. It will only get better with repeat viewings.
Report Card:
Story-C-
Acting-C+
Visuals-C
Originality/Innovation-B
Enjoyability Grade–B+
Overall Grade-B-
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