I have to believe at some point there's going to be a backlash against these Seth Rogen-Judd Apatow brand bromances. I mean, I liked "Superbad" okay, I loved "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", but "Pineapple Express" while funny in parts, made me long for this era to be over.In all fairness, I'm not the target market. There are, I presume, guys who find all the gay subtext jokes hilarious. (You know the "Ha! Ha! They're trying to free themselves but if you didn't know it it looks like they're doing it!") I also grew impatient with the movie's rambling dialogue after the first act, imploring the story to get a move on. It did, to some extent, when its basic plot kicked in. It goes like this...
Pothead Dale Denton witnesses a murder, dropping his roach at the scene of the crime as he flees. The roach is full of a rare blend of weed called Pineapple Express that only one dealer in town sells. Making things worse, the dealer's only sold it to Dale so the murderer knows who the witness is and stoner and dealer have to hit the road and run for their lives.
The revelation in this movie for me was James Franco. In playing Saul Silver, the kind-hearted, simple minded dope-dealer he shines. This movie has a great central pairing in Rogen and Franco...too bad there's so little plot to keep things going once the guys go on the run.
Hubby tried to watch this movie three times and fell asleep on each attempt. I think it boils down to that lack of tension. Every scene in this movie is too long and saps the story's focus. The stakes don't escalate and the story's saddled with bad guys who are too bumbling to inspire much jeopardy. Also, its introduction of a drug war at the end of Act II feels hurried and there were too few reversals and surprises.
But as always, there are things to admire in the writing. It's hard to not feel affected by some of the movie's fuzzy charm, comic characters and the occasional hilarious exchange. Plus, I enjoyed the "wink, wink" ending where the band of brothers make fun of what is supposed to happen in a movie, i.e "hijinks ensue as we all learn a lesson." Ultimately, however, the movie's so unstructured and breezy that it floats away.
"Pineapple Express" gets three Oscars out of five.
2 comments:
Totally agree.
I think the Apatow Crew (Rogen, Rudd, Segel, Hill) are talented and funny. But it feels like they're trying to cram too much in at once, afraid that their fifteen minutes is quickly coming to an end. Maybe they are.
But I feel like these movies would be better served if they took their time with them. Really polished them.
I get excited when I hear about a new Wes Anderson flick, because they don't come around that often. (Not that they are all winners.) But with these boys, I find myself going "Didn't they just make this movie?"
But that's Hollywood. "Beat the dead horse while the iron is hot".
I groaned a couple weeks ago when the "I Love You, Man" posters hit subways.
It seems like there are endless iterations of the Apatow brand and it's gonna take a while to clear the deck.
Thing is I can't get that worked up about their success, because you're right, they're talented and funny. And what's more, the whole troupe seem so darn genial.
It's like let the boys have their fun. It won't last forever. Eventually, they'll have to grow/change.
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