Review of Pineapple Express (2008) by Tatsuhito K — 03 Apr 2015

"Pineapple Express" is an outrageous comedy that gets close to the perfect balance of smartness and stupidity. Not only are there tons of great laughs, from James Franco getting his foot stuck outside a car window while he's driving to Seth Rogen going to dinner with his girlfriend's parents only to tell them that they're all in danger from an insane drug lord whom Rogen saw murder someone.

It's very similar to a lot of other Rogen/Franco comedies, with tons of jokes about weed, sex, and a lot of the tongue-in-cheek homoerotic "bro" humor that has become their signature. A lot of familiar faces - Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Ken Jeong, Bill Hader, Gary Cole - make up a fantastic supporting cast, and the film works more than just as a string of hilarious events through a sharp script with solid continuity and a lot of great surprises.

"Pineapple Express" is one of the best stoner comedies I've seen, and the second best Rogen/Franco/Goldberg comedy after the phenomenal "This is the End". The only thing going against it is it's a bit too long, as some of the jokes and set-pieces (or, really, comic sequences of intentionally rambling dialogue, which is more their style than simple punchlines) go on a bit longer than they need to to get the point across. You probably won't like it if you're not a fan of Rogen/Franco/Goldberg's typical style of humor, either, but if it's your kind of comedy you'll have a blast with it.