Review: Pineapple Express


Dope-smoking process server (i.e. he hands out subpoenas) Seth Rogen has just smoked some rare, potent dope with his friendly (if paranoid and frequently incoherent) drug dealer James Franco when he goes to deliver a subpoena to Gary Cole. Before he can, though, he witnesses Cole (a drug dealer), and his crooked cop crony Rosie Perez killing an unidentified Asian man. Smartly, Rogen high-tails it outta there. Stupidly, Rogen leaves behind some ‘evidence’ (weed of a rare variety) for Cole to discover. Rogen alerts Franco to the situation and they both freak out, and not just ‘coz they’re fried. So they decide to hide out until the situation cools down. Or until they’re so wasted that they forget what they’re doing hiding out in the woods. Danny McBride is Franco’s mid-level drug-supplier and friend, who has a run-in with some of Cole’s hired thugs, and is probably the least trustworthy person on the face of the planet. Did I mention Rogen was meant to be having dinner with his high-schooler girlfriend Amber Heard’s parents (dad played by a well-cast Ed Begley Jr. and mom played by Nora Dunn)? James Remar and Bill Hader play military men in a weird, pointless B&W prologue set in the late 30s involving early tests on the effects of marijuana smoking.



This 2008 David Gordon Green (“Undertow”) stoner action/comedy is a sort of What If the characters from “Lethal Weapon” were Stoners?’ situation from the writers of “Superbad” (screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, from a story by the duo and Judd Apatow). It has two major problems. 1) I don’t like very many stoner films, or even most drug-centred films at all, really. 2) The character played by Rogen is utterly unappealing and vaguely creepy. He is a filthy-looking dope smoker who is friends with his dealer and is dating a high-schooler! The guy is a foul-mouthed, no-hoper sleazebag (Surely the guy’s at least meant to be 25, right? Rogen himself is surely at least 30 and looks older) in my book. The funny thing is, I was almost able to get over these two bothersome aspects to enjoy this film. After all, it’s well-made for what it is (though the only funny part I even remember is when someone refers to the marijuana as smelling ‘like God’s vagina’. Hilarious line, actually), while Franco and McBride give terrific performances under the circumstances. Rosie Perez still can’t act a lick, though.



If you like this sort of thing, you’ll probably consider this one of the best in the genre, lots of people seemed to respond to it favourably. Aside from “The Big Lebowski” and “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”, I don’t like this sort of thing, and didn’t get a whole lot out of it, I’m afraid. At nearly two hours, it’s way too long as well. Watch “The Big Lebowski” instead, it’s in many ways the same film, only twice as good.



Rating: C+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more