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Movie Review: The Pineapple Express
‘Pineapple Express’ derailed by mediocrity
By Patrick Rills
Special to 2theadvocate.com
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out of 4 stars.
There is such a notion as too much of a good thing. Judd Apatow-produced comedies can be reasonably added to that list.
In 2007, everything Apatow touched (“Superbad,” “Knocked Up”) was box office gold, but this year his attempt to repeat that success has resulted in mediocrity: one comedy more watered down than the next one. “Pineapple Express” is just the latest lackluster boxcar on Apatow’s derailing Hollywood money train.
“Pineapple Express” stars Apatow regulars and “Freaks and Geeks” alums James Franco and Seth Rogan as a spaced-out drug dealer (Franco) and a more-than-regular drug consumer (Rogan) who are inadvertently entangled in a gang war after Rogan’s character, Dale Denton, witnesses a murder. The dimwitted twosome must elude ruthless hit men, navigate high-speed car chases and escape shootouts in between their inane conversations and weed smoking.
“Pineapple Express” would like to come across as the blending of a stoner comedy (yes, that’s a genre now) and a traditional shoot-’em-up action flick. But in reality, it is neither pulse-pounding, suspenseful nor really all that funny.
Sure, there’s an unpredictable ridiculousness to it that allows the film to keep its youthful edge and have a few hilarious moments, but the majority of the film is spent on dragging dialogue that always seemed to go for one bad line too many. Director David Gordon Green seemed to sense this problem as well, having most of the conversations end with some sort of outlandish physical gag to snatch back the audience’s attention -- the funniest of which involves an ear injury.
The film is relentless in its attempt to get the viewer to laugh, and that, sadly, is all the film strives to do. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with producing a film solely for mind-numbing humor (see “Dumb & Dumber”), but one can’t help compare “Pineapple Express” to previous Apatow/Rogan successes which provided a humorous perspective on real, relatable issues: “Superbad” on facing looming adulthood and “Knocked Up” on the stress of out of wedlock pregnancy. “Pineapple Express” seems like a phoned-in effort.
Rogan provides a solid performance, but is again outshined by his onscreen partner. Franco steals the show as the lovably stupid drug dealer who is in a constant state of hilarious, ignorant bliss. Rogan’s character is more straight-laced and ordinary (maybe too much so for a supposed pot-smoking fiend) to draw any attention away from Franco’s eccentric character. Like a mother nagging her son to eat all his vegetables, Rogan’s character loses his likeability as he seems to be the only one intent on making sure the movie doesn’t deviate from its shallow plot when all the audience really wants to see is more gags and one-liners from Franco.
“Pineapple Express” boils down to a second-rate version of “The Big Lebowski” without the precise camera work and timeless wit of the Cohen brothers. With a $25 million budget, it has too much Hollywood polish to even become the cult classic that the Cohens’ film has. The result is simply a movie that in a few months you have trouble remembering.
