Hey everyone thanks for checking out my review of the new film from the apatow bandwagon “Pineapple Express” starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Now for a while I thought that the Apatow crew had lost it after making films like “Walk Hard” and “Drillbit Taylor” and it was not until early this year with “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” that I felt like they had truly returned. So the big question is does pineapple express continue the trend of good Apatow films and my answer is…yes.
“Pineapple Express” is the story of a [rpcess server named Dale (Seth Rogen) who gets all of his drugs from the always high Saul (played incredibly by James Franco). Well, one night after Dale gets high with Saul. Dale witnessess a murder by a drug lord and a cop and he he freaks out and runs back to Dale. The drug lord quickly identifies Dale and Saul and hires hitmen to go off and kill them both a fairly simple story but a very original one at that.
Now the writers of this film is the same exact team that brought us “Superbad” and you can definatley tell with this film. In fact the film feels like Superbad mixed in with a lot of 80s-90s action flicks. Now i’ll start with some of the good in this film. The film delivers in laughs. The film is simply hilarious. The random rans of james franco’s character saul will leave you laughing til you cry. Seriously it is some of the most random stuff I have ever heard in a film. One thing that surprised me was that in last years Seth Rogen film “Knocked Up” I enjoyed watching his character but always thought he was better as a side character than as an actual lead. He made me eat my own words in this film because he was simply terrific. But the true star of the film is James Franco. He nailed the role and created what I think is the best comedic performance of the year so far. So in the end I simply have to say that the filmmakers have created a great duo that seriously rivals Harold And Kumar. Now, not only does the film deliver on laughs but it delivers on action. There is a really fun car chase scene in the middle of the film that is hilarious and keeps you adrenaline pumping.
Now as much as I laughed in the theatre their were some problems. Like the first 2 acts in the film are great but the third act just does not work as well as the first two. Which leads me to a second problem the film feels a bit dragged. I sat there a few times just wandering when the film was going to end. The antagonists in the film were not that ineresting to me and the felt really weak and dull. There is also a sub-plot I have to mention about Seth Rogen’s character dating a high school student and, while funny, is simply pointless to the overall progression to the story.
So, overall I had a lot of fun with “Pineapple Express”. The cast and crew delivered completely and created a hilarious comedy with some good action. The film is a bit too long and has a weak third act but I definatley think that you should check this film out.
TMR Rating: 7.5/10
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