Seth Rogan may not be a name you've heard of, but if you've been to the movies in the couple years, you may have seen some of his work without knowing it. He was one of the writers in the hilarious
Superbad, and he was also the star in the movie
Knocked Up which I felt was terrible.
Pineapple Express is his latest work, and this time, he's both a writer, and playing the main character.
The premise of the movie is fairly simple: It's a pot inspired buddy comedy, mixed with an action movie. The main character, Dale, witnesses a murder, and accidentally drops his joint at the scene of the crime while trying to escape. Knowing that evidence could be traced back to him, Dale along with his drug dealer buddy Saul, embark on a crazy adventure to hide out from the killers. The problem is, they're high the entire movie, leading them into a lot of stupid situations, like camping in the woods, throwing their cell phones at trees, and selling pot to schoolkids. Meanwhile two hired killers chase after them, though they're nearly as incompetant as the people they're hunting down. It climaxes into a war between two rival drug gangs, with Dale and Saul unwittingly caught in the middle.
The movie overall, is a bit hit and miss. Certain moments are downright hilarious, but then at other parts of the movie drag with almost no laughs at all. One of the worst moments is towards the end, where just like in every single movie buddy comedy ever, Dale and Saul have a fight, declare each other no longer friends, but manage to become friends again at the end. The whole thing is stupid, formulaic, and there's no parody or satire to be seen.
Another slow moment is in the climatic battle drug battle at the end. Up to that point, the movie is a fairly lighthearted and campy adventure, then suddenly it becomes an action movie with characters getting shot left and right, it feels very out of place, and takes itself a bit too seriously. The second half at least lightens up and becomes more slapstick, but it could've been cut down in length a bit.
At almost two hours long,
Pineapple Express is a bit long for a comedy. A lot of stuff could've been cut for time, or at least shortened to tighten up the movie overall, particularly the above mentioned scenes. At the very least, even though it has slow spots, it remains funny start to finish, unlike a lot comedies that simply stop being funny two-thirds in. None of the cast particularly stands out, except for the father of Dale's girlfriend, who sadly is only given one scene. Seth Rogan who plays the main character Dale, to me seems like he'd be better sticking to being a writer. The movies he's written are funny, but as an actor he doesn't seem to be able to play much else besides your usual pothead slob. Funny in small does, but as a leading man, the act is wearing a bit thin.
Overall,
Pineapple Express is a decent movie. This summer has focused much more on action and superhero movies, so this is probably the best comedy to come out in a while. It's much better than the last one I saw at least,
Harold and Kumar 2, which was ironically another pothead movie. The commercials for
Pineapple Express weren't funny at all but I decided to see it anyways, and to my surprise, I was pleasantly surprised.