The Incredibly Stoned Duo

Alright people, I gotta say it: Just say no to pot…but say yes! to pot movies.

Pineapple Express is a hoot and a half.

I’m quite sure I would’ve enjoyed the Judd Apatow-produced movie a lot more if I’d been high – high-ish, even – when I saw it, or if I’d gotten more of the lingo Seth Rogen and James Franco use, but a fun movie is a fun movie is a….

As I anticipated, director David Gordon Green (Snow Angels) didn’t go juvenile in his first foray into mainstream moviemaking. Green brought deeper nuance to an already-layered script co-written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg (the real-life BFF behind Superbad), so Pineapple Express transcends being a pot movie – it’s a two-ifs-on-the-run that is bluntly put, smart, funny, and so enjoyable.

Rogen plays Dale, a high school-senior-dating pothead who serves legal papers for a living and regularly stops by to see his even lazier dealer Saul (Franco).

After a visit during which he scores a rare new strain called Pineapple Express, Dale goes off to serve some dude who ends up being the city’s most dangerous drug lord (Gary Cole). When he witnesses him and a crooked cop (Rosie Perez) off another dude, Dale, dazed and confused, dumps his roach, runs back to Saul, and figuring that the drug lord will track the roach back to him, quickly decides they should make a run for their lives.

The reluctant best buds are now stuck with each other, and we’re happy to go along for the ride because these two are not about going to let anyone kill them or their buzz.

Spark it up! And by that I mean watch Pineapple Express.

My Rating ***

Photo: Columbia Pictures.