James Franco is either a better actor than I had given him credit for or was stoned out of his gourd the entire time this movie was being filmed. When I found out he was playing the part of a drug dealer, I couldn’t picture it. Turns out, aside from being a touch too muscular, he was perfect for this role.
 
Dale (Seth Rogen) is a process server who serves people with legal documents. Upon witnessing a murder at the residence of a known drug lord , he panics and runs to his drug dealer Saul (James Franco) for fear of being tracked down and killed. The pair go on the run jumping from one adventure to the next in their attempt to resolve their sticky situation.
 
The biggest problem with this movie is that the basic idea is not very original. This film is a Harold and Kumar knockoff with guns. The premise is pretty much the same. Two pot smokers find themselves in trouble and have to endure two hours of nonsense before the film is over. Only in Pineapple Express there is a little less nonsense and much more weaponry.
 
This flick also suffers from stop and go pacing. The beginning is slow-going and it feels like an eternity before we get into the entertaining parts of the film. Once it gets moving, it can be comparable to being in a car with a bad driver. His foot is on the gas speeding toward a red light letting up only to stomp on the breaks before it’s too late. Then repeat for the next several lights. The end result is something akin to whiplash.
 
Little effort has gone into making any of these characters endearing. The main character, Dale, is 25 and dating a high school girl. An age difference of seven years isn’t that bad, but the whole school thing just makes him feel really creepy. While most of the other characters have their moments of being funny it’s impossible to cheer on any of them except perhaps Saul, a drug dealer who also happens to be a genuinely nice guy.
 
Even though this film is mediocre at best, there are some moments that are truly funny. The fighting is so chaotic and disorganized it feels more like a real fight than if these scenes were well choreographed. The car chase scene, short as it may be, is very entertaining. The build toward the conclusion is also a lot of fun with the feel of a video game where one starts with a basic weapon, then upgrades to a pistol, then finding a semi-automatic and so on.
 
While I can continue picking this film to pieces, my basic conclusion is that you can have great fun watching this, but not in the theater. Catch it once released to DVD. Wad yourself up on your couch with a friend or two, surrounded with plenty of soda and snacks. Just watching this film will give you the munchies.

Verdict | Watch It (On DVD)

Ha! yeah, that fight scene was crazy! The really odd part is that I went to high school with Danny McBride! Oddly enough, I played a major roll as Edgar Allen Poe in our student play when he played a minor character in the skit in high school!

I’m super psyched for danny because he’s worked really hard for it and I’m happy to know someone that’s in Tropic Thunder! Go Danny!

I couldn’t stop laughing! It was a little gruesome but I really liked the movie! I thought it was funny and tell everyone it’s a 10x less, more gruesome SuperBad… it’s a great movie if you just want to laugh at two idiots

I can tell you that the reason the fight scenes seemed chaotic instead of ‘well choreographed’ is because they decided to throw out all that and just GO FOR IT! I saw parts of it on the ‘net and it DOES look real especially when Rogen gets hit in the head by that flying ashtray!
- Just some FYI…