Wick's Review

Summary - Good 3.0

Like the effects of the mellow drug it celebrates, Pineapple Express gyrates between intense absurdity and sweet geniality, with frequent bouts of hilarity thrown in. Ace comedy writers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Judd Apatow have crafted another LOLer here, though not one as consistently sidesplitting as Superbad, their teen dream masterpiece.

Acting - OK 2.5

Seth Rogen delivers his trademark shlumpy comedic brilliance. Buddying him up with James Franco – such a tightass in Spider-Man yet a pleasant revelation here as a shaggy weed dealer – creates a genially effective comedy team at the center of the movie.

Bill Hader, overseen by an eye-patched James Remar, unspools a hilarious opening cameo as a 1930’s soldier who learns of pot’s absurdest affects in especially unmellow circumstances.

The rest of the cast is just OK. Gary Cole and his hitmen hardly intimidate. Rosie Perez’s crooked cop lacks sex appeal, humor or dread. How’s that happen?

Amber Heard fills out the young hottie role in barely memorable fashion. Her ’rents, well played by comedy stalwarts Ed Begley Jr. and Nora Dunn, are reliably funny.

Film - Good 3.0

Pineapple Express hangs with other recent comedies that deliver fast-paced raunch in such brutally funny fashion that you’re wondering what you just heard even as you’re laughing your ass off. While not as consistent as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Superbad, or Juno, PE nonetheless delivers plenty of LOLs. From a big picture POV, PE adds another layer of burnish on what has turned out to be a comedic golden era.

Now to its rank in the hierarchy of pot movies. While the evil weed features in lots of flicks, you’d have to go back to Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke to find a story where cannabis looms larger. In that light, PE’s Cross Joint, God’s Vagina, and Army test scene place it nice and high on the list.

Edge - Risqué 2.0

PE adds more than a little violence to the usual raunchy dialog of Apatow comedies.

Reality - Glib 1.7

Two bogosities stand out on the Reality front: The stoners are amazingly casual about partaking in all manner of public settings, and they function amazingly well given the purported power of Pineapple Express.

As with all Apatow productions, the movie’s worldview remains stuck in arrested adolescence. Not that there’s anything wrong with that given how funny it is.

1 Comment

• Wick Jun 15, 2010 9:38PM

  Regarding MetalJunky5000’s Review
  I agree with some of your criticisms Junky, especially about the amateurish direction. I also thought the performances by the supporting players were second rate. Still, I remember LMAO.

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