Apologies

I apologize for my lack of BO predictions this weekend, but a vacation is necessary. I will be back soon with more insights on the modern movie biz. For now here is my belated review of Pineapple Express:


I was skeptical, I'll admit it. I thought this was going to be another hyped up disappointment. I had watched the preview about 100 times, and listened to Paper Planes about 100 more. I was wrong. The movie is what I'm sure pineapple express (the potent pot smoked in the movie) is, a ticket to a lot of laughs, goofy good times, and a feeling that will make you want to come back for more.

The movie centers around Seth Rogen playing Dale Denton, or really, he's just playing Seth Rogen. While the performance is as unoriginal as Will Ferrell's past few, it has yet to lose it's humor as I believe Ferrell's has. His grumpy, sarcastic loser, who in this movie smokes massive amounts of marijuana and serves sepeonas as a living, comes through with funny cracks here and there. However, I can't imagine this act can be kept up for long.

Denton, after witnessing a murder, flees with his drug dealer in order to avoid joining the deceased, and this is where the hilarity ensues. The real credit for the humor in the movie goes to James Franco as Saul Silver, the drug dealer who is happy, laid back, thoughtful, forgetful.... um, pretty much just the classic stoner. He pulls it out without deriving from Cheech, Chong, Harold, or Kumar (or his Freaks and Geeks character like much of Apatow's old school crew from the show) and that is the brilliance of his performance. I laughed so hard at most of the things he said, I missed a great deal of the other characters dialogue. Him and Seth Rogen make a pot-smoking, gun-toting team of super-stoned-heroes the likes of we haven't seen since Blunt Man and Chronic.

Similar praise can be bestowed upon Danny McBride who plays Red, Saul's "thugged out," and untrustworthy, but clutch, connect for shipments of the finest weed in the area (the title character of the movie). Mcbride never breaks, lands every line, and makes the perfect third for the Franco-Rogen duo.

While there is sloppy editing and direction, specifically the scene where Gary Cole and Rosie Perez (yes, that Rosie Perez) break out [of character] laughing, the lightheartedness of the story and characters excuse it. The movie is a candidate for second watch as many jokes are missed through laughter (also little things such as the Chinese mob speaking Korean make me think there are details to be appreciated). I would give it my "Good Movie" ranking, and a "Great Comedy", but its status as legendary (probably a far-reach) is dependent on the second go around and future quotability. It's an instant "hit" with it's target audience (for which the cops were present to prevent engagement in illegal activities) and it was a moneymaker so a sequel will be shot for sure.