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Critics Consensus: Both funny and scatter shot, this loose-knit action/buddy/stoner comedy bridges genres and keeps a steady tempo of low ball laughs.
Critic Consensus: Both funny and scatter shot, this loose-knit action/buddy/stoner comedy bridges genres and keeps a steady tempo of low ball laughs.
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All Critics (200) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (136) | Rotten (64) | DVD (9)
But there's still time for a gloriously unexpected coda, a moment of quiet reflection and narrative ingenuity that confirms 'Pineapple Express' as the finest comedy of the year.
Watching Pineapple Express is like sitting dead sober in a room with a bunch of stoned people who are laughing uproariously. They're having a great time. You're not.
Gore and yucks are not an easy combination to pull off and Team Apatow simply do not have the skills.
At its sharpest, the script by [Seth]Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who co-wrote Superbad, recalls what made Superbad worth seeing: the sidewinding conversational riffs, the why-am-I-laughing? wordplay.
This is an endearingly slovenly, profane movie with bursts of startling violence, but it's all played for nyuk-nyuk laughs, and it has been directed with more care than it might initially appear by David Gordon Green.
Never generates any big laughs, and the chase elements are so intentionally cliched they never take on a life of their own.
I admit I enjoyed Pineapple Express more than I expected.
This is a baggy, pointless, tiresome film, which is also messy, puerile, cack-handedly gruesome and plain unfunny.
David Gordon Green seems to have used this template as some sort of experiment... Green's method is like a stone-cold killer in a John Woo movie: He makes us laugh, then immediately shoots us in the face.
The party got out of hand towards the end, and we probably should have booked out before we got too tired.
You would have to smoke a great deal of the stuff to make Pineapple Express seem like a good movie, although from the assorted giggles at the Rio Theatre, the audience was ripped and receptive.
High-ly recommended.
David Gordon Green directing a story by Judd Apatow is something that goes against the laws of nature, but even more surprising is how well it works, a great blend of bromance, stoner comedy and highly enjoyable action, with James Franco shining in a hilarious performance.
Super Reviewer
Incredibly low and silly action comedy about a couple of pot smokers stumbling into a case of corrupt cops and gang wars. The creators obviously thought it counts as humor if you're throwing ash trays at people's ears or just let them mumble nonsense. The surprisingly bloody but pointless showdown doesn't safe much anymore. This is boring and lacks any appeal like surprises, likable characters or a coherent plot. Catastrophic and a shame for everyone involved. Avoid at all costs.
Saul: It's almost a shame to smoke it. It's like killing a unicorn... with, like, a bomb. "Put This in Your Pipe and Smoke It." Pineapple Express is one of my favorite stoner comedies of all-time. It "hits" all the "high" points that it needs to. It also pulled a great and soon to be classic performance out of James Franco as Saul the drug dealer/stoner. Everything he does, from his mannerisms to how he talks to what he says is a perfect parody/impersonation of a stoner. His performance doesn't reach the level of say Sean Penn in Fast Times, but it is one of the best stoner performances I have ever seen. Dale and his drug dealer, Saul, end up on the run from a corrupt cop and a major drug kingpin Ted. Their experience takes them through shootouts, fist fights, car chases, and wooded adventures. There are some classic scenes in this film. I especially love the woods scene. It's a perfect piece of pothead paranoia and is actually not far from some experiences you've had while smoking the cannabis. The film has its share of problems. I won't deny that at all. Still this is a film that I can watch and re-watch and watch again. People who aren't laughing after the first scene where we see where the prohibition of marijuana came from should just give up on it there, because it's a sign of the humor to come. This is strictly a drug comedy. Sure there are elements of other forms of comedy, slapstick and sex comedy included; but as The 40 Year Old Virgin was to sex comedies, Pineapple Express is to drug comedies. If you're a fan of this genre, you'll absolutely love this film. If you aren't, you still might like it because it's better than 90% of drug comedies. So give it a try. You may not like it, but then again you may be like me and won't be able to stop laughing. If you want a little help with the experience, toke up beforehand. You'll be howling.
Seth Rogen and James Franco make an unbreakable bond in this smart-witted comedy that's stoned out! The new type of comedy presents more perverse dialogue and dark laughter. But it's still executed well and makes up exceeding due to it's co-stars. 4/5
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