Review
'Pineapple Express'
Starring Seth Rogan, James Franco, Danny McBride, Gary Cole and Rosie Perez
Directed by David Gordon Green
Rated R
Judd Apatow’s gang of outsiders is at it again, looking to reinvigorate an ’80s movie genre that’s fallen into disrepair. It worked with last year’s teen sex comedy “Superbad,” after all. With “Pineapple Express,” they go after the action comedy. And for the most part, they succeed.
Action flicks have always been plagued by questions of plausibility. Why would the main characters make the decisions necessary to lead to mortal danger or acts or heroism? “Pineapple Express” finds its own plausible explanation: They’re stoned.
Unlikely leading man Seth Rogan plays Dale Denton, an ambitionless twentysomething whose interests are limited to talk radio, his high school student girlfriend and getting high. Through a series of events that hovers somewhere around the limit of plausibility, Dale and his hapless dealer, Saul (James Franco), find themselves on the run from a short-tempered drug lord (Gary Cole) and a crooked cop (Rosie Perez) who want them dead.
Marijuana plays a major role, starting with an amusing black-and-white prologue that will have you wondering if you walked into the wrong theater. And while weed is what brings Dale and Saul together and what sets the plot in motion, this is not a stoner movie. It may be about stoners, but its abruptly mature takes on growing up, friendship and responsibility make it something more.
While Rogan makes an amusing if implausible hero (how exactly did a schlub like him land the hottest girl in her high school?), the film belongs to Franco. He takes what could have been perfectly fine comic relief and created an actual, believable character, with the most realistic depiction of stoner logic in film history. He doesn’t hit a wrong note.
The supporting cast isn’t bad, either, and they were all obviously having a ball. Standouts include Danny McBride as a turncoat and human punching bag, and Craig Robinson and Kevin Corrigan as a pair of henchman who, if Quentin Tarrantino were involved, would probably have their own movie.
Director David Gordon Green creates a realistic tone in which, even though this is a screwball comedy, every move rings true and the danger feels real. This makes the climax of the film all the more disappointing, as they trade in a decent amount of heart and realism for a winking spoof of action movies that worked much better in last year’s “Hot Fuzz.” It’s the only buzzkill in what is otherwise a great trip.