Pineapple Express

Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Gary Cole, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson, Rosie Perez, Ed Begley, Jr., Amber Heard, Bill Hader
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Action
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A stoner, Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) and his drug dealer (James Franco) are forced to go on the run when Dale witnesses a murder. Now, the drug kingpin (Gary Cole) behind the murder sends two goons (Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson) to kill them both.

Review:

Tim: Judd Apatow has been responsible for some very funny movies in recent years. As a writer and producer of this film, he gives us another comedy classic. What I love about Pineapple Express is that it is a different kind of comedy. Action comedies are so often weak, and this film is a solid entry in that subgenre. Plus, it is a solid bromance movie, marijuana movie, and is incredibly funny, and very entertaining. This is a great movie.

I have to give major credit to the cast. I read that early on, Seth Rogen and James Franco were supposed to play each other's roles, but they eventually switched to how they appear in this film. This single move makes the movie. I love that Seth Rogen- the "comedy" actor plays the straight man, and James Franco- who has much more dramatic background- plays the fried drug dealer. This is brilliant. I really liked Rogen in this role. He has such a likeable personality, it is so fun to watch him on screen. However, his performance, though good, can't equal that of James Franco. Franco is absolutely hilarious in this movie. I loved nearly every moment of his screen time. I am not sure how he transformed himself into this character, but I thoroughly believed his performance. I was so glad that he received a Golden Globe nomination for this role. Best of all, Franco and Rogen has loads of bromance chemistry together. I am not sure why, but they just work excellently together. Their love-hate relationship is the fuel for this movie and the reason it is so incredibly entertaining.

The supporting cast is quite good as well. Danny McBride starts out a little weak, but he really comes around and proves equally as good as Rogen or Franco. I immediately like any movie with Craig Robinson more than I would have otherwise, and that is true here. His presence in a movie is always a good thing. The rest of the supporting cast also work well.

This movie has some truly funny moments. Nearly every exchange Rogen and Franco have is hilarious. I have to mention a few- Franco's "What's down there, a Rancor?" (easily the most overlooked hilarious line of all time), Franco's "The monkey's out of the bottle now!", and probably my favorite line of the entire movie- Franco's "heat-seeking missiles... bloodhounds... and foxes... barracuda." As you can see from this little example, Franco has the majority of the best lines, but it's not just the writing that makes this work- his delivery is absolutely perfect. His comedic timing here is flawless. I won't even go into all the great scenes. Suffice to say, this is a great comedy.

Pineapple Express is one of the funniest movies I've seen in years. I laughed throughout the entire movie. And plus, as an added bonus, the movie's trailer introduced me to M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," which is one of the coolest songs of all time. This movie just oozes coolness and I really love it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Knocked Up, Superbad, The 40 Year-Old Virgin