OldBoy

I love the song that is in the trailer (Paper Planes by MIA, not Huey Lewis' 80's throwback that isn't good) in this and after being pleasantly being surprised by “Step Brothers” I will see this close to opening day.

Movie:
"Pineapple Express" (Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole, Bill Hader, Rosie Perez)

Release Date:
8/01/2008

Rating:
R

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pineapple_express/
Fresh:125 Rotten:58 (68% as of 7/14/09)

Info:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910936/

Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_p...ress/high.html

Poster Art:

JPRaup

Wrote this last week when I saw it:

Just went to a press screening with a Q and A with David Gordon Green. The film was really enjoyable. It was such a great mix of comedy and action. Pretty much every laugh is matched with some intense action, which brings more laughs. It's quite the adventure film as a whole. I LOVED Franco in it. He is great in his role as a lovable loser. You can also tell DGG's directorial touch. This is not just a stoner comedy, its a piece of cinema that holds its own, when comparing it with other adventure flicks and upper tier comedies. I really recommend seeing this movie, it was a great refresher from the disappointing Step Brothers.

8/10.


I stand by my claim..and even like it a bit more now that I've had a week to think about it. GO SEE IT!

devilshalo

As if there weren't any reviews already existing in the original PE thread.

OldBoy

i know, but people like the poll, so merge and keep poll. no biggie.

clappj

What's the big deal?
Scott likes poles.
I mean, Scott likes to create poll threads.


Really looking forward to this one, BTW!

pridesticks06

Pineapple Express - 8/10 as well. Caught a pre-screening tonight (with pineapple pizza) and really enjoyed the film. The laughter was well-placed throughout and it was hysterical. But it also had a great action element and the combination was a success imo. Franco and Robinson really stepped up and they were just as funny, if not funnier than Rogen. Skipped Step Brothers because I heard disappointing things about it, but I would bet that this is much funnier.

SkipKassidy

I got to see a screening of Pineapple Express tonight and found it to be a 8/10 film as well. The last 20 minutes was a straight up action-comedy hybrid the likes of Hot Fuzz. James Franco was awesome as Sal, Rogen was his usual self. But there were a few shots/scenes where you just want to go "Yeeesh!"

When I first heard that David Gordon Green was hired to direct, it was one of those WTF? moments. Then I saw him on Shootout on AMC Sunday along with Franco and Rogen and figured he was a good fit directing this stoner action-comedy.

I wonder if this is something new the Apatow guys are experimenting with. First we had the mock direction of Capote's Bennett Miller as one of the Knocked Up extras, and now we have Green directing a $27 million film.

Nicholas Vargo

I both saw the film and wrote my review back on July 24. Here it is, courtesy of my MySpace blog. Apologies if there are any spoilers:

Pineapple Express - ***1/2
Directed by David Gordon Green

Although highly anticipated by me, I worried going into the sneak screening of this movie tonight that I might not enjoy it all that much, especially after the positive, but not thoroughly enthusiastic responses I received from some old friends from Pittsburgh last night. However, as the lights went down and the picture started to unfold, i realized that my expectations were going to be exceeded, because this action comedy manages to be a daring studio movie that manages to balance both well in both style and execution.

Starting with the vintage black & white Columbia logo (from the 1930s), Pineapple Express opens in 1937, when the military is testing the effects that marijuana has on people. This opening sequence is not only a truly inspired sequence, but it also manages to make you laugh out loud at the same time. You'll be drooling at the visuals, but you'll be laughing right along with it too. The film then transitions to present day, where we meet Dale Denton (Seth Rogan), a process server who disguises himself as many different people during his work day so he can deliver them subpenas and other things like that, but also has his own problems, including the fact that he is dating an 18-year old girl named Angie and his recent obsession with marijuana as well. That's where Saul Silver (James Franco, stealing the whole show I might add) comes in. He's Dale's pot dealer, and he is just gotten in some of the most rare pot known to man called the Pineapple Express. Saul's saying alone for it makes the scene itself a very funny affair. While on his way to issue a subpenea to a man named Ted Jones (Gary Cole), Dale discovers quite by acident that he is a drug czar, and that he has a crooked cop named Carol (Rosie Perez) who helps him do his dirty work. We find out because Dale becomes a witness to their murder of a member of an Asian gang, who is at war with Ted's gang. While leaving his butt of Pineapple Express on the ground, Dale hurries back to Saul, this time to find out how rare the drug is and whether it can be traced back to them. Before they know it, both Dale and Saul are on the run and are level-headed enough to notice that they're being chased by just about everyone who is not on their side.

What follows from that point on is a buddy movie similar in style to comedy classics like 48 Hrs. and Rush Hour as they try to avoid Ted Jones and his goons, who are planning to dispatch of both Dale and Saul, as well as trying to explain their situation to anyone, from Dale's girlfriend all the way to Saul's friend Red (the hilarious Danny McBride). In fact, Red is the character that manages outside of Franco's Saul to deliver some of the biggest laughs of the film. Take the scene where Dale and Saul interrogate Red on what he knows. Once Dale realizes that he is lying, what ensues is one of the funniest violent scenes I have ever had the privlage of viewing on the big screen, as they try to kill him off and fail unbelievably in the process. This idea becomes a running joke, and a very good one at that. You think at first that Rogan and his co-writer Evan Goldberg won't be able to come through with it, but they do, and in spectacular fasion too, I might add. It's also a testament to David Gordan Green's direction that it comes off without a hitch.

There are numerous other scenes that will have you in stitches, such as a couple of smart car chases (the one I'm referring to specifically is the one that has been seen in the trailers, with Saul's leg going through the windshield), a confession scene where Dale tells his girlfriend that he loves her, only to realize his mistake, a meeting with her parents (Ed Begley Jr. and Nora Dunn) that turns into gunpoint 101, and an extended finale taking place in a barn that involves our heroes, main villains, and the Asians all shooting at each other. It is in fact this sequence that proves Pineapple Express's worth, that it's really an uproarious excuse to make us laugh and watch Apatow and company blow everything up, including the kitchen sink.

If there are really any complaints that I have with the film, there are really only two. One, we kind of leave Angie hanging at the end. It's unfortunate because just seeing her get out of this mess would've been a little more satisfying. The same goes for its ending, where it seems like it just ends. It seemed that there could've been a true denoumont, but the creators seem to just want to quit while they're ahead. While I wish there was a little more to go after that scene, I guess after the insanity that came before it, ending it with just one scene afterwards might seem like the best alternative. Still, they are minor quibbles in what is truly a funny film.

My initial reaction leaving the movie was that I had witnessed one of the funniest films of the summer, but in all fairness and honesty, the film has sunk in for two reasons. One, there really hasn't been a truly funny comedy made so far this summer yet, and two, I caught myself quoting the movie as I left it. Here is so far the funniest film of the summer, and although it's not quite the funniest film I've seen this year, it makes for worthy competition for a spot up there. It's really an amazing feat that I'm able to announce that the writers of Superbad have managed to create another comedy classic, this time one where its action and comedy comes together to form a compatible charge that I have not seen in quite some time. When this film hits your local multiplex, expect to laugh until it hurts. One of the funniest films of the year, and easily the funniest film to grace us so far this summer!

Also, I just want to mention that if you want to hear a good tune during the end credits, stick around for the title song performed by none other than Huey Lewis & The News. This is actually the second time I've heard it (I was introduced to the song on the official soundtrack page on MySpace not too long ago) and I liked it a lot more the second time around. To conclude this review, I repeat my last line from the previous paragraph: When this film hits your local multiplex, expect to laugh until it hurts. One of the funniest films of the year, and easily the funniest film to grace us so far this summer!

wilky61

I thought the release date was 8/6/08, not August 1st.
I probably either will not watch this movie in theaters, or I will go baked with a few friends when I return to campus in a couple weeks (my junior year of college, yeah yeah I'm young). Pineapple Express isn't the type of movie I'd normally go see or enjoy without a little help (e.g., I hated Hot Fuzz).

BambooLounge

Went to a midnight showing last night (those are not always smart things on Tuesday when one needs to wake up early for work) and while I enjoyed the film, it couldn't live up to my Paper Plane trailer expectations.

The film has your standard "character says something humorous while high" humor, but steps it up in regard to the physical comedy (think looney tunes if they bled). Franco plays an excellent stoner and Rogen plays, well, Seth Rogen. What the film lacked, probably because it is a stoner comedy, was that angry humor most often brought in by Jonah Hill. It was a very even-keel film even during the most absurd and awkward fight sequences. The physical comedy was fun and makes the movie worth it, but do not go in expected Hot Fuzz. It was strange walking out of an Apatow gang film NOT quoting half the movie. The best, and pract. only quotable is "Thug life" from the trailer said by the scene stealingly brilliant Danny McBride. (his supporting role alone was worth the price of admission).

Pineapple Express is not the Apatow summer masterpiece I was expecting, but it is still another excellent comedy in the "No Girls Allowed" Apatow comedy world.

Sidenote: The type of audience you see this with may alter your viewing experience. I saw it with an apparently "pot proud" group who gave the Rogen character an ovation for a piece of pot smoking showmanship.

RyoHazuki

You should ask the mods to merge the threads. The old thread still has more reviews than this one.

My take:

Good movie. Not great. Seth Rogen can't carry a feature. He really needs to get a new role to play. He cycles between two types of line delivery and it wears thin really fast. Fortunately James Franco and that other guy on the poster are absolutely hilarious. The story doesn't really go anywhere interesting, the trailer made it seem more "epic" I suppose.

Overall its a B.

NitroJMS

I caught it this afternoon and don't think it really exceeded at being an action spoof or a comedy. It lacked the over the top nature to actually make the action humorous ala Hot Fuzz or Shoot Em Up. It just seemed like generic action-fare in that regard with most of the best moments (foot threw the window) being in the trailer.

From a comedy aspect, it doesn't hold a candle to other recent Apatow films like Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Step Brothers.

mdc3000

I liked it but am kind of disappointed. I thought the first third was hilarious and well paced and the action of the final third is great - but that middle act DRAGS. It has hardly any laughs, the villains are weak and it just meanders for that part. Franco and Rogen are both great, but the trailer was cut so well, paced so great to the music that the movie just didn't flow as well as that - even a few gags in the trailer (dumpster, 'high as a fucking kite!') didn't hit as hard with the way they were cut in the actual movie. It is highly entertaining but I wish they could have tightened up the middle.

I laughed way more during Step Brothers than this one... and NEITHER hold a candle to Tropic Thunder. I know I've been singing it's praises for a few weeks, but now having seen the big 3, Tropic Thunder is easily the funniest and the best overall movie...this was good but with all the advanced buzz I'd heard, I guess I was expecting more from Rogen and Co. 3/5.

CloverClover

Ebert said that this is what would happen if a great director made a movie like this, however there was nothing great in it, there was nothing visionary or even unique in the filmmaking... Don't know what Ebert was thinking even mentioning Kubrick in his review. However, that aside, as a comedy I thought Superbad was more full and original, and last week's Step Brothers was funnier if only for its energy. Pineapple had some good parts but I left feeling misled by the trailers that there was something sharper here.

Boba Fett

Saw it this afternoon. Franco stole the show by far, and this film confirms the fact that Seth Rogen just plain annoys me. It was still entertaining, but nothing grondbreaking. I'd give it a B-, I'd have given it a B, but it felt about 15 minutes too long.

TheMovieman

Seems to be the concensus on most of Apatow's movies... But I do agree.

I liked it overall, but I wasn't laughing like crazy either, so it's in the middle between 3 and 4 (out of 5).

Quake1028

See I totally disagree. I have seen all 3 multiple times, and I still hold that Pineapple is the best and most consistent of the 3, with Tropic Thunder a close second and Step Brothers a distant third.

RichC2

I fly like paper get high like planes... yeaaah.

I'm looking forward to this despite the mixed consensus, hopefully get to see it in the next few days.

BambooLounge

It's funny, I completely agree with that. This may be the only good film I have seen whose trailer was far better. I'm not a trailer enthusiast or anything, but I can sit down and watch the Pinapple Express trailer w/Paper Planes over and over. IMO it is the perfect trailer.

islandclaws

Saw this last night. Maybe it was because I was so high, which I doubt, but this was the funniest movie I've seen in years. My gf and I absolutely loved it. It was the perfect stoner film. Totally hilarious, lots of great action, simple and fun plot, loads of great characters. We need to see it again we were laughing so hard. Easily in my top 3 films of the year thus far. I thought it was even better than the trailer made it out to be.

BambooLounge

Yeah, that is probably it. This is certainly the "perfect stoner" flick in that it was written by stoners (Rogen) for stoners about stoners. When I saw it at midnight there was a ton of high people finding other people being high as some of the most amusing shit in the world. The audience and the film really became one. Sort of like when people sit around smoking and their friend does something "funny" while high and everyone laughs. That was the perfect way to describe the viewing experience.

BUT...as someone who doesn't smoke and def. wasn't high when I watched it, the movie was just like said gatherings of pot smokers when your not partaking. Some things are genuinely funny, but most of it just isn't. It is chuckle "heh, he's high and silly" funny, but in terms of cinematic quality, it is not a great comedic achievement.

The trailer and its soundtrack makes things a lot more "universal" in the sense that it is not all stoners being stoners...it is paced to quickly for that.

riotinmyskull

finally a review i can trust.

mdc3000

Different strokes I guess. I'm a sucker for movies about the industry, so I love the Hollywood satire in Tropic Thunder.

maingon

Seen it yesterday and liked it, it does drag in some parts the bad guys are pretty lame and boring, you never get a sense of danger from them. first act is very funny. Franco is very good. Didnt like Francos friend who we meet. That guy wasnt very funny, he came off as a really creepy guy.

7.5/10


had a group of kids behind me and there was a "stoner" wannabe or something or wanted to impress his friends but every time there was weed on screen or the plants. he would constantly say out loud "sweet", "Oh my gosh!" "awesome" etc during every part where there was weed visible, drove me nuts though out the movie.

spainlinx0

I saw it with a packed crowd last night, and I thought it was hilarious. I was not high. James Franco was absolutely great in his role. Everyone mentions the comedy, but what about the action? There were some absolutely brutal moments, and I thought the fight scenes were better than most action movies.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for people acting dumb, high, or drunk, but I think it is always hilarious.

Now, I'm off to go look at some weird shit on the internet.