A process server and his marijuana dealer wind up on the run from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after he witnesses his dealer's boss murder a competitor while trying to serve papers on... Read allA process server and his marijuana dealer wind up on the run from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after he witnesses his dealer's boss murder a competitor while trying to serve papers on him.A process server and his marijuana dealer wind up on the run from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after he witnesses his dealer's boss murder a competitor while trying to serve papers on him.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 15 nominations
- Scientist
- (as Jonathan Walker Spencer)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSeth Rogen originally wrote the part of Saul Silver for himself to play. It wasn't until the table read that he realized James Franco would be funnier in the role of Saul.
- GoofsThe foot-hole in the windshield suddenly, inexplicably, changes sizes from small and jagged, to larger and more rounded.
- Quotes
Saul: Let's roll, man! I'm done with the woods! Let's go! C'mon, man, let's get the fuck outta here!
Dale Denton: [sarcastically] Okay... Uhh let's go... No... It's not working... the battery's dead.
Saul: Wait...! What do you mean, it's dead?
Dale Denton: [laughing] What do I mean? I mean the battery's dead. The battery's dead!
Saul: No, no! What do you mean, the battery's dead?
Dale Denton: How can I explain this to you differently? The battery is dead. It ceased to live. It's deceased now. The car needs a battery to start, Saul.
Saul: [frustrated sigh] How did this happen?
Dale Denton: Well we clearly fell asleep with the battery on and-...
Saul: Aw, man... Talk radio?
Dale Denton: Yes, talk radio.
Saul: So boring, man! The car just committed suicide.
- Crazy creditsThe film opens with the 1960's wide screen Columbia Pictures logo.
- Alternate versionsFor its UK cinema release the film was pre-cut by the distributors to remove a scene showing teenagers smoking a strong form of marijuana in order for the film to receive a '15' certificate. The footage was restored for the DVD and the certificate raised to '18'.
- ConnectionsEdited into 5 Second Movies: Pineapple Express (2009)
So far this year we have been treated to an unusually high dosage of stoner comedies, with Pineapple Express being a late third behind the too-dumb-for-it's-own-good Strange Wilderness and the dumb-but-fun Harold & Kumar. However, despite coming in late to the game, the old expression of "saving the best 'till last" seems applicable here. Where previous instalments from this year combined the dumb with surreal through incoherent situations obviously dreamt up from people who were under the influence at the time, Pineapple Express feels silly, but not the extent where the entire feature boils down to caricature comedy. Here the writers take two characters, start them off one place and take them on an adventure not just through crime, car-chases, comical fight scenes and little personal squabbles, but through themselves. It's a combination which could have had a disastrously polarising effect, but the writers get it spot on here.
Main characters Dale Denton (Seth Rogan) and Saul Silver (James Franco) may have alliterative names akin to comic book heroes, but they're certainly not of that kind. Instead, they deal with drugs; Saul is Dale's supplier, and as much as Saul would like to think of Dale as a buddy, Dale wants nothing else to do with him outside of the service he provides. However, after Dale witnesses a murder involving some drug-dealer crimelords, the two are forced to embark on a journey that will have them at odds with each other whether they like it or not. What results of this is a story of friendship, and while the unlikely premise of these guys not exactly getting along does seem a bit shifty, the chemistry between Rogan and Franco is superb enough to allow their characters plenty of growing. To be sure, this isn't a hallmark drama, there are no grandeur statements and no tears are provoked from director David Gordon Green but that's what makes it lovable; it's a story about two regular guys, who get into crazy shenanigans, smoke weed and crack some jokes. It's not enlightening per se, but it's entertaining, and down to earth.
This is where Pineapple Express begins to take the lead in front of its predecessors, as it actually attempts to tell a compelling story with an undoubtedly overblown amount of action, but with grounded drama to bear the weight of its fabrications. Through this fusion of solid characterisation with a ridiculous but conceivable action-packed plot, the film succeeds in creating an engagingly entertaining experience that doesn't just provide excitement and memorable characters, but also manages to tickle the funny bone just as frequently.
Coming from the three guys who last year blessed the screen with the hilarious Superbad, Pineapple Express is a riot start to finish, combining lots of blunt dialogue with slapstick and farce to great effect in ways which made the aforementioned creation as funny as it was. It has to be said that this time around, the pacing isn't quite as tight, and the script's insistence on some scenes' ability to sustain laughter is a little off, and this in turn leads to the movie's only real technical fault. In such moments, jokes will be drawn out for long stretches of time, losing momentum, yet thankfully such scenes are far and few between, and with the pace heightening the more film reaches the conclusion; the frequency sharply decreases with time. Nevertheless, if you don't mind profane dialogue, blunt jokes and plenty of passive violence used mainly for comic effect, then Pineapple Express should please any desire for laughter that you may have.
And that's all it basically comes down to, but what else were you expecting? As a movie, Pineaple Express is an entertaining and at times sweet take on friendship based around two very down to earth characters that most people should be able to relate to in some way or another. As a duo, Rogan and Franco are extremely well matched, with the interplay between the two coming off as naturally comical and aptly delivered to the point of satisfying the movie's biggest pulling point and focus. With some great action scenes tinged with plenty of comedy, all revolving around some memorable characters portrayed by enthusiastic, suitably cast performers who end up within a plot which is admittedly hammy, but fun all the same; Pineapple Express is good for many things, but the thing that it does best is in making you laugh, and it does so with enough frequency to make this one of this year's greater comedies.
- Written by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Piña Express
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $27,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $87,341,380
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $23,245,025
- Aug 10, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $101,624,843
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1