Apatow's latest "apple" falls far from the tree

Funnyman Judd Apatow could have redefined the stoner genre with his latest, Pineapple Express, instead, he gives us a film just half as funny as Silence of the Lambs.

     Cheech and Chong. Harold and Kumar. Let’s face it, aside from Jay and Silent Bob, there’s not much competition. For the man who gave us the brilliantly comical Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The 40-Year-Old Virgin this should have been a cakewalk. So what happened?
     There’s nothing wrong with the plot, it’s right out of Billy Wilder’s Some Like it Hot, which topped the American Film Institute’s list of funniest films of all time. Process server Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) stumbles on a murder and inadvertently leaves behind a nub of evidence that leads back to his, uhhh, “unlicensed pharmacist” Saul Silver (James Franco).
     To be fair, Rogan, though no Albert Brooks, has some funny deliveries and with Franco they make for an unlikely, though somehow still believable, pairing.
     But this pineapple just isn’t ripe. The soundtrack, which can usually be relied on to buoy weak movies like Dazed and Confused, is uninspiring and the humor just doesn’t resonate ... at least not with the 11:00 a.m. matinee crowd.
     Maybe it’s only funny at the 4:20 showing.

½ Honk
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence.

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Comments

[The Freak]

Part of me has wanted to punch James Franco in the face for the last five years. Oozing arrogance in the Spider-Man franchise and racking up pretty-boy roles in Flyboys, Annapolis and Fool's Gold, Franco was on a pathway to becoming a Brad Pitt wannabe who never amounts to anything in film but a pretty face. Franco may seem to be an odd choice by some people for the role of Saul, the drug dealer. Some may see it as an attempt to break the pretty-boy mold. I see it as a reunion. Franco has been tied to Seth Rogen since Freaks & Geeks (one of the most overlooked television gems of all time) and is finally back to true comedic form.

The Judd Apatow tag has been put on practically every comedy in the last three years. Even if Apatow breathes in the same room as the writing team, they put his name somewhere in the credits. Apatow's creativity has had highs (Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and lows (Stepbrothers and Walk Hard). His name is losing credibility with each dud he puts his name on and Pineapple Express gives him another just-above-mediocre film to add to his resume. Laugh out loud moments are few and with the exception of Franco's performance, we've seen most of the others before. Though the idea of being stoned adds humor to all performances, one-dimensional characters abound and freshness that some pot-smoking characters have brought to the screen (think Chris Tucker in Friday) is virtually non-existent. Supporting roles are erratic, with some adding virtually nothing to the story and some enjoyable.

There is cleverness in Pineapple Express, primarily in the writing. The dialogue is sharp between characters and some one-liners did leave me laughing on the way to my car from the theater. Conspiracy theories have been part of nearly every pothead interaction in history, so it isn't surprising that Saul & Dale can think nearly a complete step ahead of the bad guys by "inducing" the paranoia of being high. This paranoid advantage is captured perfectly in the film. Franco is entertaining as hell in some parts and Rogen even has a few moments where he steps away from the flat character he continually tosses onto screen. There is a fantastic line involving a Daewoo and enough fun in the dialogue to make this one a funny trip to the theater to those who would consider it.

Overall Rating: B-