The Pineapple Express (2008)

Mar.04, 2008 by Reid in Previews: Theatrical, Videos

Directed by:
David Gordon Green

MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence
Theatrical Release: August 06, 2008

Synopsis:

Stoner Dale Denton (Rogen) visits his dealer Saul Silver (Franco), and is introduced to a new strain of weed called Pineapple Express. But, when Dale drops his joint after witnessing a murder by a crooked cop (Perez) and a notorious drug lord (Cole), Dale discovers the new strain is so rare it can be traced back to him and Saul. Incredibly, this isn’t just a weed-induced delusion, and the two stoners suddenly find themselves running for their lives.

Our Thoughts:

Ah, yes, The Pineapple Express, the latest in Judd Apatow created movie offerings this year. As with every other Apatow creation recently, some society moral is exploited. While he’s already taken on sex (The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)), pregnancy out of wedlock (Knocked Up), underage drinking (Superbad) and school bullying (Drillbit Taylor (2008)), this time he aims to make heroes out of drug users.

While he manages to make his movies funny, he also has an aptitude for taking swearing to a new art form - unfortunately, it’s not an art form that is worth seeing. Crude humor is the main attraction, and the fact that Apatow’s pictures are doing well could be pointed at as a reflection on the simplemindedness of moviegoers these days - after all, it can’t just be young kids going to these pics, can it?

Still, despite the questionable material and the low-brow humor coupled with enough vile language for 10 non-Apatow films, The Pineapple Express could pull in viewers by it’s depection of stoners doing dumb things. After all, it worked extremely well before with Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, didn’t it?

Unfortunately, this attempt at re-creating the success of Jay and Silent Bob is bound to be unable to measure up, and will have to rely on it’s abuse of the English language to cover it up. More unfortunate yet is the likelihood that the film will probably do well in theaters, meaning Apatow’s run on the box office is most likely far from over.

Count on us not being there in the theaters, however - this one sounds like it should have gone straight to DVD, and that’s where we’ll watch it…eventually.