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The Pineapple Express

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: R
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

Action films and comedies have always been hard genres. The movies either move along coherently such as Hot Fuzz, or turn into a jumbled mess like Bad Boys 2. Unfortunately, Pineapple Express falls into the latter category being nothing more than a disjointed action comedy with a few laughs but not much else.

The story follows process server Dale Denton (Seth Rogen), a lazy stoner who receives a special brand of cannabis named Pineapple Express from his dealer Saul (James Franco). When Dale accidently witnesses a murder while smoking a joint, he immediately drives to Saul’s to hide out. When they realize that Saul is the only man in town with Pineapple Express and it could be traced back to him, the duo go on the run from mobsters who are hot on their trail. The plot starts off strong but begins to meander at the hour mark when the film turns into a full on action film, leaving all story behind and most of the humor which makes this a very unbalanced film. This means that certain subplots such as one involving Dale’s high school girlfriend are completely abandoned with no closure.

However amongst all the films troubles, one person who should be congratulated for his work is James Franco for his hilarious performance as a clueless brain-dead stoner. Franco plays Saul as if everything the character observes is completely new to him since his brain is so fried from drugs. Franco completely steals the show from Seth Rogen and is given many of the film’s funniest lines.

Pineapple Express is a disappointing effort from the Apatow crew. If the film had cut off about fifteen minutes and been made into a tighter film so the jokes weren’t so few and far between, this could’ve been a breezy summer action comedy. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next Apatow produced effort to see if the action and humor can be melded more competently.