Wednesday, August 6, 2008

by Erik

 Pineapple Express - opening August 8th - concerns two pot-smoking friends, actually acquaintances better describes it (more on that later), one the weed dealer Saul (Franco) and the other his best customer Dale (Rogen). In a hilarious scene, Dale coincidentally witnesses a murder, flees and leaves his joint at the scene after crashing into nearly every car parked in his vicinity. The murderer—played by Lumbergh himself Gary Cole—it turns out, having heard the crash and realizing someone has seen him kill, is the only distributor in town of the specific weed he finds near his house, where the movie's title derives (Saul to Dale: "I just got a shipment of Pineapple Express, the dopest dope I've ever smoked. Smell it. It's like... God's vagina."). Dale rushes back to Saul hoping he'll tell him the weed is untraceable, but of course it is very rare and very traceable. They go on the run, but not before grabbing snacks and plenty of grass because we all know that can only help these two (more on that later as well) as they try to avoid being killed. Mayhem and laughs ensue.

Pineapple Express the movie is an interesting comedy. The Judd Apatow name is strewn about the credits (he has story and producer credit here); it's directed by the freakishly talented David Gordon Green, whose previous efforts include dark, meditative films Snow Angels (released earlier this year), the Night of the Hunter-inspired Undertow, his first two and best films All the Real Girls and the Terrence Malick homage George Washington; and it stars two of the more popular young actors in Hollywood today (reuniting onscreen for the first time since Apatow's brilliant and unfairly cancelled TV show Freaks and Geeks). The movie has mainstream ambitions, but with a fairly obscure American indie director (though I respect his desire to break into the mainstream—and this is a better attempt than most—this isn't a true David Gordon Green by any means) at the helm I wonder how well it will play. Add to that a pretty hard R-rating (it's surprisingly, hilariously violent) and the fact stoner comedies tend to be niche or cult affairs.

The Apatow name certainly isn't a standard of excellence or a guarantee for success, just look at the awful Walk Hard. No doubt it will draw a strong audience after Rogen and Apatow's very funny Knocked Up hit it big commercially and critically last year. The success of Superbad, the Rogen and Evan Goldberg-scripted teen sex comedy makes it seem as though this will be another notch in the belt of the Apatow machine. (They both wrote Express too, the first time director Green hasn't written the screenplay to his film)
I for one really enjoyed this movie, a mélange of stoner hijinks (some of them clichéd, some of them inspired, realistic and actually insightful) and ridiculously over-the-top action set pieces ala Hot Fuzz. I found I was laughing a lot, so it was doing something right. The idea for the movie apparently came from Brad Pitt's character in True Romance. Rogen and Goldberg wondered what a movie would be like if it followed that stoner while he avoided hails of bullets and drugs. Thus sprang Pineapple Express.

Those prominent Apatow / Rogen themes of male bonding, friendship and growing up abound throughout the movie, I found they were stronger and better realized here than in Superbad, a funny movie for sure, but one with too many scenes that had me slapping my head for sheer stupidity and ridiculousness. Everything with the cops and McLovin in that movie was pretty funny, but so beyond the realm of possibility and realism in my opinion as to render the movie a bit stupid. In Pineapple Express, the plot devolves in to a sempiternal, climactic shoot-out so over the top that I realized this was a sort-of spoof on action movies as well. Once that came to the forefront, I felt it went to another level of hilarity and intelligence.

But it doesn't end there. Rogen clearly has something to say about his on-screen persona in this movie as well. His character goes through an actual arc as he realize - after a nasty vituperation at the expense of Saul - the truth about himself: he's a lazy stoner who needs to grow up, stop smoking weed at least all the time so he can function, and realize who his true friends are. Besides Saul, you have the indestructible Red (played with comedic luster by Danny R. McBride, stealing the show in almost every scene he's in). What Red goes through in this movie is so improbable and hilarious I don't dare spoil, suffice to say it had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Saul, Dale and Red partake in one of the best, and easily the funniest, onscreen fights so far this year in which they break everything in their path and each other.

A few criticisms: one section went a little far for me, a dinner scene with Dale's high school-aged girlfriend and her family. The setup is great, but the entire scene goes on a too long and never felt genuine; talented cinematographer Tim Orr (he's worked with Green on all his films) is hampered with little to do, except for a few beautifully realized, long crane shots and some quality hand-held work here and there; Rosie Perez plays a dirty cop as well. I was surprised and pleased to see her, but then realized it was nothing more than stunt casting.

Pineapple Express won me over with memorable lines, many coming from Franco (I was surprised how much I enjoyed his performance; he is better suited here than whining his way through more Spider-man movies):

-"What do you have a rancour down there?
-"We need to go somewhere. Hotel, motel, holiday inn."
-"You almost made me pee my pants."  -"I wish" (watch for Rogen's facial reaction to this line. Priceless)

A supernumerary amount of weed is smoked in this movie, and the methods used by the characters (two words: cross joint) are hilarious and unique to this particular comedic genre. Other favorite moments were unfortunately included in the movie's awesome red-band trailer, in particular the car chase in which Franco smashes his foot through the windshield and Rogen's Wolverine /X-Men-style jump taking out a bad guy.