'Pineapple Express': A stoner saga scores
Not since “Pulp Fiction” plunged a needle in the heart of an overdose victim has drug comedy met drug violence with the pop of “Pineapple Express,” a stoner saga that manages the neat trick of being alternately as relaxed as an afternoon smoke session and as intense as a policeman’s pounding on the door.
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Movie Critic John Beifuss reviews four new films, "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," Pineapple Express" and "Brick Lane." Watch »
"Pineapple Express" star Seth Rogen flees flames with co-star James Franco in tow.
Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence
Length: 105 minutes
Released: August 6, 2008 NationwideScore: 3.0
Cast: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Danny R. McBride
Director: David Gordon GreenProducer: Seth Rogan
Writer: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Genre: Drama
Distributor: Sony/Columbia
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Consistently surprising, “Pineapple Express” might stoke controversy if audiences didn’t expect outrageousness — even tastelessness — from a Judd Apatow production. I can’t think of another comedy — outside the resiny confines of a Cheech & Chong scenario — in which viewers are asked to sympathize with a lead character who not only dates an underage high school girl (Amber Heard) but, desperate for cash, sells marijuana to young schoolkids.
Written by star Seth Rogen and longtime friend Evan Goldberg (with a story assist by producer Judd Apatow), “Pineapple Express” rejiggers the worst-day-ever/best-day-ever formula of the pair’s previous hit, “Superbad.” This time, the two loser pals caught in an increasingly disastrous deadline sequence of absurd events aren’t teenage classmates but adults linked by their love of pot; in both films, menace is provided by character actor Kevin Corrigan as one among many comic bullies and troublesome authority figures.
The script and performances deserve praise, perhaps in equal measure; you can’t compliment one without the other, because it’s hard to tell which lines were written and which were improvised. In one standout sequence, Rogen’s tearful confession of true love to his girlfriend turns on a dime to panic when she brings up marriage. Another memorable scene finds stay-at-home pot-dealer Saul Silver (James Franco) experiencing an epiphany when he realizes his job — which allows him to wear pajamas and watch “227” reruns all day — is good. “Yeah,” confirms a loyal customer, played by Rogen. “You do nothing.”
But what elevates “Pineapple” way above other recent Judd Apatow joints (to borrow the Spike Lee expression) is the direction of Little Rock-born David Gordon Green, a darling of Southern regional cinema whose transition to commercial filmmaking should prove as successful as that of Richard Linklater, who directed “School of Rock” 12 years after his no-budget indie breakout, “Slacker.” (“Pineapple” is only the second of Green’s five feature films to receive a commercial booking in Memphis; the first, “Snow Angels,” played at Malco’s Ridgeway Four in April for one week. Also, his debut, the utterly original “George Washington,” screened one time during the 2001 Indie Memphis Film Festival.)
Working with his usual cinematographer (and fellow North Carolina School of the Arts alum), Tim Orr, Green favors long takes, a locked-down or slow-moving camera and widescreen compositions that give the actors plenty of room to work with the funny material. Yet he not only doesn’t bungle but totally nails the first big action scenes of his career, including an impressive car chase and a surprisingly brutal climactic assault on a druglord’s farmhouse.
Rogen — who is given ample opportunity to knit his brows in his trademark pained, puzzled expression — stars as Dale Denton, a shlubby process server forced to go on the run after he witnesses a drug murder.
Dale seeks shelter with Saul, the affable dealer of “pineapple express,” described as “the dopest dope you ever smoked.” “It’s almost a shame to smoke it,” Saul says. “It’s like killing a unicorn.” But the thugs trail Dale, and soon both men are running for their lives.
At first, the film’s bongwater-stained script is a bit too stonercentric. But the movie builds interest and momentum as it progresses, thanks in part to a typically expert Apatow ensemble that includes Danny McBride as another low-level drug dealer. (McBride, who appeared in “All the Real Girls” before moving on up to such mainstream comedies as “The Heartbreak Kid” and “Drillbit Taylor,” introduced Green to Rogen, Apatow and company.)
My one major complaint about “Pineapple Express” concerns its “action” finale. I don’t mind the depiction of shooting, injury and death, but I find it troubling that the script requires Dale and Saul to participate — with increasing macho enthusiasm — in the bloodshed. When Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were confronted by gangsters in “Some Like It Hot,” they used their wits to escape; they didn’t grab their enemies’ Tommy guns and mow them down. The tacit endorsement of lethal violence in “Pineapple Express” feels like a betrayal of the otherwise likable Dale and Saul by their own creators, and a symptom of the world’s sickness.
— John Beifuss, 529-2394
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