By BADASSSSS

Pineapple Express
Directed by David Gordon Green
Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez
Rated R
Release date: August 6, 2008

I went into Pineapple Express, the latest collaboration between producer Judd Apatow and writers Seth Rogen (who also stars) and Evan Goldberg, with pretty good expectations. I came out of the theater nearly two hours later feeling as high as the various characters who smoke the rare strain of marijuana that gives the movie its title, only I didn’t have to light up at all. The sheer force of the non-stop laughs and wild thrills this boldly original take on the shopworn buddy comedy genre delivered made me feel like I had been hitting off a bong the entire time. I have a feeling the majority of the other moviegoers who were in the mostly empty theater on the cloudy Thursday afternoon when I saw this comedic gem were probably wondering what I was smoking, and also wondering if they could get a hit off that. It’s no drug baby, it’s Pineapple Express! The sensation was wonderful and I can’t wait to experience it again.

Dale Denton (Rogen) is a lowly process server who spends his days delivering court summons to ungrateful recipients and smoking copious amounts of weed secured from his affable dealer Saul Silver (James Franco) in between visits to his high school student girlfriend Angie (Amber Heard) and calling in to radio talk shows to extol the virtues of getting blazed on a regular basis.

During a visit to Saul’s, Dale is introduced to a rare and potent new strain of pot called Pineapple Express. Instantly falling in love with the weed, Dale buys some and heads off to his next assignment: delivering a summons to a man named Ted Jones (Gary Cole). After arriving at Jones’ house Dale lights up a joint and witnesses Jones and a lady cop named Carol (Rosie Perez) murder an Asian man. In a panic Dale drops his joint and runs back to Saul’s. Saul explains that Jones is the man he gets his weed from through a middle man named Red (Danny McBride) and that the Asian man was no doubt a competitor. Meanwhile, Jones finds the joint and immediately identifies it as Pineapple Express. He dispatches hitmen Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan) and Matheson (Craig Robinson) to take Dale and Saul out, but the duo have already long fled. On the run with no idea as to who to trust, our intrepid heroes must stay alive long enough to take down Jones, if they can only stop taking so much time to get high first.

The heroes of Pineapple Express aren’t really heroic at all, but rather a pair of hapless schlubs in over their heads and just trying to keep from getting killed. Dale and Saul make for memorable protagonists thanks to the genius casting of Seth Rogen and James Franco, respectively, in the lead roles. Both characters are their own straight men and comic relief sidekicks, unable to take their situation seriously at first but smart enough to know when the time is right to get serious.

Originally the part of Saul the dealer was intended for Rogen with Franco, who co-starred with Rogen in Apatow’s short-lived television series Freaks & Geeks and popped up briefly as himself in last year’s Knocked Up, slated to play the comparatively straight-laced Dale. By switching parts the actors are able to make what could have been ordinarily unoriginal casting choices into inspired portrayals of relatable human beings thrust into extraordinary circumstances. In the process, a beautiful friendship is forged and you really cheer Dale and Saul on as they stumble and smoke their way in and out of the plot while most of the action takes place without them even being aware of it.

Rogen knows the role of the stoner slacker inside and out by now. Practically every character he has played, from Cal in The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Ben in Knocked Up, is some variation on that role. In the part of Dale, Rogen is the more responsible of the team but surprisingly still prone to lighting up at inopportune moments. The dilemma that Dale finds himself in collides with his trying to keep his moderately adult life from falling apart and creates for some of the funniest scenes in the film. Plus, when he reluctantly assumes the role of unlikely action hero towards the end, Rogen proves to be more than up for the job. Dale Denton is a cool new movie hero, a wonderful character, and one of Rogen’s finest performances to date.

Anybody who thought they could predict what James Franco would do next no doubt got a huge surprise seeing him stepping into the Saul Silver role, a move that pays off in spades as it demonstrates his increasing versatility as an actor. In many ways Saul is worlds more together and responsible than his frequent customer Dale because he knows how to keep his life straight even when he’s blazed as a motherfucker and freely admits to selling weed mostly to help keep his beloved grandmother (Connie Sawyer) in a nice retirement home. Previously best known for his strong dramatic performances, Franco taps rarely-seen reserves of child-like vulnerability and humor to play the role of Dale’s pot dealer and possibly best friend in the world. Saul is a priceless character destined to be a stoner icon on the level of Cheech and Chong, Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, and Jeff Spicoli with a winning performance by James Franco to match.

But unlike most action comedies the leads are given a wonderful cast of eccentric supporting characters given full life by an eclectic ensemble of actors. Gary Cole makes for a hilarious drug lord as Ted Jones, someone who obviously didn’t heed the lessons of Tony Montana by getting a little too high on his own supply and letting his own overbearing paranoia dictate his actions. Oftentimes, Ted just wants to chill with a beer but he knows how to get shit done. He’s given a great partner in the form of a perfectly cast Rosie Perez as the very-together corrupt police officer Carol and the two actors have terrific chemistry with a little sexual tension simmering underneath. There is another inspired team with Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson giving deadpan performances as the two gunmen hired to kill our heroes. Corrigan, who previously co-starred with Rogen in Superbad, plays his hit man as more of a single-minded businessman rarely speaking above a normal tone of voice and eager to get the job done so he won’t miss dinner with the wife. The Office‘s Robinson, another Apatow vet from Knocked Up, compliments Corrigan splendidly as a more enthuiastic but no less straight-forward hit man with a slew of hilarious one-liners that show him as a no bullshit kind of guy. Bobby Lee of Mad TV and Ken Jeong (the cranky OB-GYN from Knocked Up) also show up towards the climax as another unlikely pair of assassins from a rival Asian gang and they’re funny as hell.

The last of the film’s hilarious duos is comprised of the great Ed Begley Jr. and Nora Dunn as Angie’s exasperated parents. The dinner table scene with them and Rogen is a small masterpiece within the movie and would make for a great short film. Begley has some of the movie’s best lines and a priceless moment when he goes after Dale and Saul with a shotgun that makes him look briefly like a parody of the Dustin Hoffman character from Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs. Who would have ever guessed that Ed Begley Jr. could be a badass motherfucker? Amber Heard isn’t given much of a character to play but she makes Angie a nice young lady who cares for Dale but finds her patience stretched to its limit by the awkward position he places her in.

But the true star of the supporting cast and the man who nearly walks off with the entire damn flick is the great Danny McBride as Saul’s middle man Red. McBride emerged practically out of nowhere onto the Hollywood scene after his performance in the independent comedy The Foot Fist Way (which was released back in May for about ten minutes) started making the rounds and attracted the attention of Apatow and Rogen, who thought he would make the perfect Red. The character of Red is at times a bit of an enigma. His loyalty seems to change depending on whatever situation is convenient for him and he apparently can take many injuries including several bullet wounds without cracking. Plus his thin mustache reminded me at times of Rod Farva from Super Troopers. Red is a great character with a lot of hilarious dialogue that Danny McBride gives an extra kick by being a naturally funny guy. This is one cool dude who could be one of your best friends in real life.

Pineapple Express is as much an action movie as it is a comedy so I have to mention the terrific action sequences. Without heeding to the cliched conventions of the genre director David Gordon Green, best known for naturalistic dramas such as George Washington and All the Real Girls (which featured an early performance from McBride), gives the action scenes a refreshing and realistic messiness that manages to excite while still being hilarious and unpredictable. From a wild car chase to a grandly violent final gun battle where just about everyone catches a bullet at one time or another, Green’s action beats give the movie a hard-driving energy that meshes perfectly with the comedy to make Pineapple Express the total entertainment package. The standout action moment has to be the three-way knockdown drag-out brawl between Dale, Saul, and Red that tears apart Red’s house and the three combatants at the same time. You will laugh as much as you will grimace. Further proof that one man’s pain can be another’s comedy.

Speaking of Green, the director is one of the film’s true surprises. Shooting Pineapple Express in several ordinary-looking California towns, Green’s knack for finding the hidden beauty in destitute areas is out in full force in his picturesque presentation of the movie’s many locations. Working with his longtime cinematographer Tim Orr, Green uses his unique directorial eye to bring vital life to the alleyways, storefronts, and strangely furnished stoner domiciles where Pineapple Express takes place. It’s just one of the movie’s many pleasures. Graeme Revell adds to the movie’s 80’s vibe with a cool soundtrack that echoes the synth-heavy scores of the era, and a totally awesome closing title song from Huey Lewis and the News completes the package.

Pineapple Express is a wonderful blend of stoner comedy and adrenaline-fueled action and one of the best movies of the summer. Let this modern classic wash over you and you’ll come out feeling like you’ve been toking on some Pineapple Express of your own for the past two hours. It’s a trip worth taking many times.

Have fun. Until next time I remain….BADASSSSS! Thug life!