By Graham Osborne
Pineapple Express is probably funny if you’re in the right state of mind. That state of mind? Stoned. If you hadn’t guessed, Pineapple Express is the epitome of a stoner comedy. Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a process server who habitually partakes in smoking marijuana. One time, after visiting his drug dealer, James Franco, Denton stops outside a house, lights up and proceeds to witness the murder of a drug kingpin by a corrupt cop and rival drug baron. The rest of the film follows a fairly predictable fare as Denton and his dealer away from people who are trying to kill them.
Pineapple Express is probably funny if you’re in the right state of mind. That state of mind? Stoned. If you hadn’t guessed, Pineapple Express is the epitome of a stoner comedy. Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a process server who habitually partakes in smoking marijuana. One time, after visiting his drug dealer, James Franco, Denton stops outside a house, lights up and proceeds to witness the murder of a drug kingpin by a corrupt cop and rival drug baron. The rest of the film follows a fairly predictable fare as Denton and his dealer away from people who are trying to kill them.
The jokes are practically non-existent and revolve around the central theme of ‘Are the protagonists being paranoid about people chasing them, or is it actually happening?’ The answer to that question is yes, and so, we are treated to a ridiculous climax in which the protagonists (accompanied by another stoner that they pick up along the way) assault the marijuana farm and kill the people who were chasing them.
The characters are fairly one note. Seth Rogen is exactly the same character he plays in every other film, which is not, strictly speaking, a bad thing, but in this film it just feels phoned in and dull. James Franco’s drug dealer is quite different to other roles he has had, especially if you compare his performance in this to his next credited performance in Milk (an absolutely amazing film that you should definitely watch!).
I’m really struggling to find things to say why this film is not good. It really feels like a complete non-entity to me, there are no real, standout moments and just trundles along. I suppose it all goes back to what I said at the beginning; if you’re stoned, it’s an amazingly funny buddy movie. But if not then you’re stuck watching nearly two hours of a dull, monotonous film. Do yourself a favour and watch something else.
The characters are fairly one note. Seth Rogen is exactly the same character he plays in every other film, which is not, strictly speaking, a bad thing, but in this film it just feels phoned in and dull. James Franco’s drug dealer is quite different to other roles he has had, especially if you compare his performance in this to his next credited performance in Milk (an absolutely amazing film that you should definitely watch!).
I’m really struggling to find things to say why this film is not good. It really feels like a complete non-entity to me, there are no real, standout moments and just trundles along. I suppose it all goes back to what I said at the beginning; if you’re stoned, it’s an amazingly funny buddy movie. But if not then you’re stuck watching nearly two hours of a dull, monotonous film. Do yourself a favour and watch something else.
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