'Pineapple Express' review

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Not long after smoking rare, ultra-potent pot called “pineapple express," 25-year-old subpoena server Dale (Seth Rogen) and his dealer Saul (James Franco, splendid) run from killers after Dale witnesses a murder. Aside from saving his own hide and avoiding a drug kingpin (Gary Cole) and a corrupt policewoman (Rosie Perez?!), Dale tries to look out for his 18-year-old girlfriend (Amber Heard), who can't wait to introduce her man to her parents.
 
Big question: Can writers Rogen and Evan Goldberg, aided by producer Judd Apatow and the unusual directing choice of David Gordon Green ("Snow Angels"), deliver as many laughs and poignant moments as they did in "Superbad"?
 
Catch it: Bong-breakingly funny and sparkling with tasty one-liners, "Pineapple Express" is another dizzying trip through the shenanigans that solidify friendship between dudes. If you've ever thrown up on a printer, played stoned leapfrog in the woods or been beaten with a dustbuster, this is your movie. Ditto if you haven't done those things but wish you had those stories to tell--and if you know who'd have your back when the smoke cleared.
 
Skip it: If you're looking for a full-fledged endorsement or condemnation of marijuana. "Pineapple" begins by wondering why weed was ever made illegal, creates an impossibly dangerous situation around it and closes without its characters celebrating or regretting its use. If you like smoking, the movie says, that’s your call, just don't be surprised when your mind slows down. And stay away from the cops.
 
Bottom line: Though still fun and hilarious, "Pineapple" sours slightly when it develops into a “Hot Fuzz”-style action-movie parody and loses the sense of regular people thrown into crazy circumstances. What Goldberg and Rogen, who's come a long way as an actor, reveal so well is the multiple dimensions within typically stereotyped people: Drug dealers have Bubbes, stoners have jobs, hired goons cry when they’re shot and pudgy, unexceptional subpoena servers can be heroes.
 
Bonus: Among the many inspired bits of stoned logic, Dale and Saul note that being a good person now means you could spend your next life as Jude Law; the only way to properly dispose of a phone is by tying it to an animal; and smoking rare weed is kind of like killing a unicorn. Questions, anyone?

Video: Watch the review of 'Pineapple Express'

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