By Anthony Kuzminski
Imagine buying the new Miley Cyrus album only to discover that Rick Rubin produced it, this would be the musical equivalent of The Pineapple Express; epic cinematic fare that is more than meets the eye. I’m actually giving Miley Cyrus too much credit here, because James Franco, Seth Rogan, Judd Apatow and screenwriter Evan Goldberg have a damn good track record unto themselves. What differentiates and makes The Pineapple Express so intriguing is the inclusion of director David Gordon Green. Green has never made a studio flick, yet he is one of the most heralded indie films directors working today (George Washington, All the Pretty Girls, Snow Angels). Chances are you’ve never seen any of his films, but I can tell you that Roger Ebert has awarded Four-Stars to every single one of his pictures so the fact that he has taken on what appears to be a stoner film (on the surface) is a tad head scratching, but ultimately proves to be a stroke of genius. One may ask if they really needed a top tier director for this film, but everything you think you may know about The Pineapple Express is probably wrong.Yes, it’s about a few pot heads that are thrown into extraordinary circumstances. The script by Rogan and Goldberg (the same two who brought us Superbad) is multi-dimensional in ways you may never expect. Rogan plays Dale Denton, a semi-delinquent who is a process server who smokes pot. His dealer, Saul Silver, is played with authority and purpose by James Franco, in a unique bit of casting. The dialogue shared between the two isn’t just entertaining, it’s downright hysterical. Yet beneath the humor of the film lies a deeper layer of mystery and intrigue. When Dale Denton (Rogan) accidently witnesses a murder, he retreats to Saul’s pot layer where the two of them go on the run and from there on out chaos ensues. Running at 122-minutes, Express may be too long for some but as Roger Ebert always said, “No good film is ever long enough and no bad film is ever short enough” and this one is just about perfect in its length as the breadth of its narrative is multi-dimensional.
For some people, the film’s two distinctive and different halves is too much for them to swallow, but what Green does with the second half of the film is make it the bastard child of Up In Smoke and Traffic…Judd Apatow style. Green was essential to executing this film because balancing the humor, action and ultimately the drama is not an easy feat, but Green manages to elevate the film with a peek-a-boo vibrancy and winking eye. In a lesser director’s hands the film may have gone completely off course and become a self-indulgent exercise in pot studies, but it proves to be so much more. There are subtle stoner hints and as someone who has never smoked anything in his life, I still picked up on most of it and the slew of 80’s references throughout the film are presented in such a tongue in cheek manner that you can’t help but smile at certain scenes where there is minimal dialogue. Within moments of meeting a character we’re smiling at their idiosyncrasies as their unique imprints engross the audience as if we’ve known them our entire life.
Producer Judd Apatow is one of the most important people in Hollywood at the moment as he is churning out one comedy film after another. What I loved about Express is that it was ultimately three films in one. Plus the unique and off-center casting proved to be a smart move with Franco and Rogan playing against type while Rosie Perez and Gary Cole shine in minor yet essential supporting roles. The final act of the film proves to be a rollicking ruckus, but is directed with such precision and care by Green that it appears to be epic samurai flick. To dismiss The Pineapple Express as a typical stoner movie would be a mistake; it’s one of the summer’s most alive and vital films brimming with drama, humor, action and well a good amount of high and chaotic tongue-in-cheek humor. Plus the closing credits have a new Huey Lewis and the News song, their best in almost two-decades…that alone should be reason enough to get you off the couch and into the theater to see the Chinatown of comedic pot films.
Film Grade: B+
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
