Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express is aimed almost exactly at me.

An action comedy with blood and gore more like 48 Hours than The 40 Year Old Virgin, Pineapple Express is an unabashed love letter to marijuana. I mean, explosions, a sexy girl, and tons of weed? I'm there.

So why didn't I like it that much?

The film delivers what it promises. Rogan and Franco play very funny, but also honest, stoner characters, and their relationship with pot is more complicated and truthful then a movie like "half-baked" or "how high", where the relationship is much more black and white. They delve into all levels of "dealer awkwardness" and "friend vs smoking buddy awkwardness". Rogan acknowledges the effects pot has on his life, but doesn't feel the need to change. I enjoyed Franco's brief vignette selling pot to the guys he hates. It's nice to see a movie that accepts the reality of the world of stoners. And they get extra points because usually, in these movies, when they cough or blow out smoke, there's no actual smoke. These guys smoke pot like pros, which gives them more opportunity for insider pot jokes. And for the stoners amongst us, those are a lot of fun, and paint a fairly believable backdrop for the film.

This honesty serves the action element of the film well, because the seeming normality of their stoner exploits provides a contrast with the insane, over-the-top action sequences. It doesn't quite work-- it's still a little much to believe that these goof-offs can handle AK-47's like pros, but the acting in these sequences is goofy enough that it's not too much of a distraction. It was kind of refreshing to see some well-executed but not-complicated fight scenes, where the acting, not the choreography, is on display. And they don't shy away from blood and violence, which gives the second half of the movie in particular a flavor that other Apatow joints don't/can't match.

James Franco merits complimenting here somewhere. He plays Rogan's super-stoner dealer, and walks a fine line between smoked-himself-retarded and dim-but-really-sweet-guy-who-just-wants-friends. It's a part that easily could have been way overdone, but Franco balances it nicely-- and is gut-bustingly funny.

So, I'm pretty much sold on the movies overall construction. But the real meat of this kind of movie-- the jokes-- is a little lean. Watching dudes get stoned and try to have conversations is admittedly pretty entertaining (note to movie-goers: get stoned before seeing this, or don't go), but it gets kind of old quick, and the rest of the movie isn't quite funny enough to keep you laughing throughout.

I've always given Apatow et al., a lot of leeway as far as the criticism that their movies all sound kind of similar. But, unfortunately, a lot of this territory has been covered in 40 Year Old Virgin (where Rogan plays a Stoner), Knocked Up (where Rogan plays a Stoner) and Superbad (where Rogan plays a dumb cop who drinks too much). I'm not getting down on Rogan-- I think he's extremely funny, and look forward to his next movie. But... this just feels like he took some of his favorite stoner elements that snuck into other movies, and brought them back. They're done bigger and better here, but you can't help feel that it's a little old hat.

There are some hilarious moments-- Rogan's last conversation with his girlfriend is a really great gag, especially in the way that it tosses aside some convention. The car chase scene is the first chase scene i've really enjoyed in a while. And Franco's gross hair is just perfect.

There's a lot of funny things that go right in this movie, but ultimately, it's just another notch in Apatow and Rogan's belts. Wait for the rental-- that way you can smoke WHILE you watch it, which is clearly how it was meant to be seen.

SCORES
Rogan 7/10 (not much new here, but it's still pretty funny)
Franco 8/10 (fun to see him play so against type)
Writing 6.5/10
Directing 7.5/10
Weed 4/20 (LOL GET IT?!?!!!)
Overall (not an average)- 6.5/10