To put it simply, this is probably the best stoner film I've ever seen. Normally, stoner-flicks follow a simple formula: 2 potheads + 1 vehicle + X amount of crazy folks = SHENANIGANS! Pineapple Express stays faithful to this time-tested formula, but it also chooses to go its own way.
Dale Denton is a twenty-something process server who is slowly slipping into a life of loserdoem. This descent is painfully highlighted by the fact that he is dating a high school girl, that he has a job in which everyone hates him, and that he constantly smokes weed. His only real friend is his dealer-- the strange and occasionally insightful Saul Silver. Together the two make for a beautiful bromance. They sit around, reminiscing on the halcyon days all the while hitting the chronic and getting baked. But their mellow is soon harshed when Dale witnesses a killing that connects him to a web of underground drug dealings. Dale and Saul have no option other than to run, and what results from this chase is nothing short of a riot.
I have never seen more perfect casting in a comedy film. Judd Apatow did a seamless job of finding the right folks to play these memorable parts. Seth Rogen plays the part of semi-straight-laced, twenty-something, lovable loser fantastically. James Franco blew me away as the burn-out Saul Silver. He manages to balance that line between truth and stereotype. He reminds the viewer of that someone that everyone knows. Together, these two form a bromance that rivals Cool Hand Luke and Dragline's. Their scenes together are so genuine and sweet, that you kinda have this weird feeling that you want 'em to be together. Franco even coins a term for what the two men are: BFFF's-- Best F***ing Friends Forever!
The real scene-stealer in this film is Danny McBride who plays Red. The paranoid drug dealer is one of the greatest characters of 2008. His whole demeanor is wonderfully contradictory: one minute, he's mister suave and cool ("Look at me, man-- I'm wearing a kimono.") the next he's a freaking manic, killing machine ("You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos, muthaf***er!") He manages to hold his own against comedic powerhouses like Rogen and Gary Cole, and I suspect that this guy is a rising funny star.
One thing I'm wondering is this: why does Gary Cole always play an asshole? He was Bill Lumbergh in Office Space, he was the douchey drug-addict Reese Bobby in Talladega Nights, and now he plays a corrupt and evil drug dealer in Pineapple Express. This guy is like the funny version of Tom Wilkinson, he's just really good at being a dick. Anyway, that was just a random thought I threw in there.
So all in all, Pineapple Express is a stoner movie that got it all and then some: great cast, great laughs, good heart, and it won't leave you with the munchies after you're done.
Dale Denton is a twenty-something process server who is slowly slipping into a life of loserdoem. This descent is painfully highlighted by the fact that he is dating a high school girl, that he has a job in which everyone hates him, and that he constantly smokes weed. His only real friend is his dealer-- the strange and occasionally insightful Saul Silver. Together the two make for a beautiful bromance. They sit around, reminiscing on the halcyon days all the while hitting the chronic and getting baked. But their mellow is soon harshed when Dale witnesses a killing that connects him to a web of underground drug dealings. Dale and Saul have no option other than to run, and what results from this chase is nothing short of a riot.
I have never seen more perfect casting in a comedy film. Judd Apatow did a seamless job of finding the right folks to play these memorable parts. Seth Rogen plays the part of semi-straight-laced, twenty-something, lovable loser fantastically. James Franco blew me away as the burn-out Saul Silver. He manages to balance that line between truth and stereotype. He reminds the viewer of that someone that everyone knows. Together, these two form a bromance that rivals Cool Hand Luke and Dragline's. Their scenes together are so genuine and sweet, that you kinda have this weird feeling that you want 'em to be together. Franco even coins a term for what the two men are: BFFF's-- Best F***ing Friends Forever!
The real scene-stealer in this film is Danny McBride who plays Red. The paranoid drug dealer is one of the greatest characters of 2008. His whole demeanor is wonderfully contradictory: one minute, he's mister suave and cool ("Look at me, man-- I'm wearing a kimono.") the next he's a freaking manic, killing machine ("You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos, muthaf***er!") He manages to hold his own against comedic powerhouses like Rogen and Gary Cole, and I suspect that this guy is a rising funny star.
One thing I'm wondering is this: why does Gary Cole always play an asshole? He was Bill Lumbergh in Office Space, he was the douchey drug-addict Reese Bobby in Talladega Nights, and now he plays a corrupt and evil drug dealer in Pineapple Express. This guy is like the funny version of Tom Wilkinson, he's just really good at being a dick. Anyway, that was just a random thought I threw in there.
So all in all, Pineapple Express is a stoner movie that got it all and then some: great cast, great laughs, good heart, and it won't leave you with the munchies after you're done.
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