Pineapple Express.

See any good movies lately?
I did!
"PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" was everything that I had hoped it to be and more. Written by the scribes responsible for "SUPERBAD" (Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg), this movie follows almost the exact same story structure:
Two friends have a specific goal,
that goal gets turned upside down,
they find themselves running away,
the two friends get into a fight,
and then end up saving one another and realizing what their friendship really means.

Now, even though the same structure is followed (and it IS a safe structure), the movies are vastly different. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS is an action-packed buddy movie that may, in fact, exceed all others. It is hilarious throughout, though not as quotable as SUPERBAD (but that is probably a good thing). I don't want to have any spoilers in this review, so I'll have to be cautious.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS was SUPERBAD grown up and on steroids. We even kindof had a FOGEL (aka McLovin) character in there for an extra dose of comedy. All of the characters were extraordinarily funny. Dale Denton, played by Seth Rogen, seemed to be more of the straight-man as Saul Silver, played by James Franco, almost stole the show.

If you were asking yourself "Hey, what ever happened to Rosie Perez?" You'll have your answer. It's almost as if she disappeared from the public eye to save up the energy and power for this film. In PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, Perez plays a corrupt police officer on the side of the drug dealers that are hunting down Dale and Saul.

There is a surprising amount of graphic violence in the movie that seems to come almost out of nowhere at times. When I say "graphic violence", I don't mean "SAW 5" graphic violence, but still things that you wouldn't expect from a Judd Apatow comedy. The movie also contains an abundance of drug use (which is something you WOULD expect from a Judd Apatow comedy) which, according to Apatow, is something that he never really got into. Apatow claims that the film is actually an anti-drug movie...which becomes clear about 2/3 of the way through. That being said, the stoner comedy and dialog makes the movie what it is. I recommend that you DON'T see this movie high (at least the first time). It's much too awesome to be forgotten 5 minutes later.

The film is funny throughout, completely suspenseful and surprising, action-packed, emotional, and ranks high at the top of the list of films in its genre (as well as films by the Apatow Crew). If you liked SUPERBAD, this movie may not have you repeating the lines every five minutes, but it will have you laughing from start to finish. If you HATED "Superbad", this movie is completely different as far as setting, genre, story, and power; but the comedy is somewhat similar (perhaps more adult). I recommend anyone who likes comedy, action, or both, to check this movie out post haste.

...additional: Can't WAIT for the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg version of ...wait for it..."THE GREEN HORNET"...time for Mr. Rogen to flex his SUPERHERO muscles!

Recommend:
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Knocked Up
Superbad
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Freaks and Geeks (tv)
Undeclared (tv)


REVIEW: A+