Release Date: August 6, 2008
Rating: R (for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence)
Genre: Action-Comedy
Run Time: 111 min.
Director: David Gordon Green
Cast: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Ed Begley Jr., Nora Dunn, Amber Heard
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following review contains discussion of adult subject matter that is not appropriate for young readers. Parents, please exercise caution.
It should go without saying that an rated-R stoner comedy from the makers of last year’s raunchy hit Superbad is not a film for Crosswalk’s target audience—but for the record I’ll say it anyway. Pineapple Express—laced with profanities, vulgarities, violence and pot smoking—will likely be far too offensive for regular readers of Crosswalk.
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That said, and to be fair, Pineapple Express serves as a stark contrast to (and improvement over) the recent Will Ferrell misfire, Step Brothers. While both push the limits of R-rated humor, Step Brothers is wholly reliant on its crudity in a way that Pineapple Express is not. To draw a grammatical metaphor, Ferrell’s coarse content is “the noun” while producer Judd Apatow’s is “the adjective.”
Distinguishing that difference (er, if you were able to follow it) may not make the experience any less offensive, but it does highlight the fact that there’s more going on here than most (lazy) movies of its ilk—narratively, thematically, and comedically.
Dale and Saul (Seth Rogen and James Franco) are two potheads who live from toke to toke. Dale maintains his buzz while serving subpoenas around L.A., and Saul smokes weed at home while also selling it—including exclusive dealership of the pot concoction known as “pineapple express.” The malaise of their day-to-day existence is completely upended when Dale witnesses a murder and the killers are able to trace the “pineapple” marijuana butt he dropped at the scene back to Saul.
The killer is a drug lord who employs corrupt cops, he’s at war with an Asian drug kingpin and now Dale and Saul are caught in the middle with nowhere to turn and are on the run. Subsequently, this stoner comedy quickly becomes an action comedy, much more in the spirit of The Blues Brothers than Cheech & Chong. Fueled by unpredictable characters, aggressive (and occasionally brutal) fight scenes and impressively-staged car chases, the action is inspired and rarely takes a breather.