Pineapple Express (2008) – Critique
August 12th, 2009“If marijuana is not legal in five years, I have no faith left in humanity, period. Everyone likes smoking weed… It makes everything better. It makes food taste better, it makes music better… It makes shitty movies better, you know?”
I’ve never been stoned before, but I imagine Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had to be high out of their minds writing Pineapple Express. This is a film with a corrupt female police officer named Sergeant Brazier. This is a film with a main character that gets shot “like seven times,” and for no apparent reason is still eating cottage cheese at the end of the movie. This is a film with an exploding barn that reconstitutes itself a few shots later. And indeed, this is a film where one has to be under the influence in order to appreciate it.
The plot is aimless and convoluted. The dialogue is meandering, circular, and often outright arbitrary. There are some interesting characters, such as the sensitive yet ruthless henchmen, Matheson and Budlofsky, the latter who just wants to have a meal with his wife. Yet most of the characters are flat and one-dimensional. Seth Rogen, as Dale Denton, is nothing more than a rambling Seth Rogen. The problem with this is that real actors are supposed to take on the identities of other characters, not just play a caricature of themselves, over and over again, no matter how profitable it may be. James Franco proves this point well. He actually acts, and plays the part of the endearing drug dealer Saul with legitimate skill and craft; his performance is easily the high point of the film.
Looking deeper, one can see an evident contrast between the violence and anger that overwhelms so many of the characters, and the mollifying power of weed. The sober characters are angry, resentful and wrathful, and someone usually ends up getting shot as a result. The characters who are stoned are often happier, more at ease and less suseptible to bouts of shooting, yet this is far from consistent, and even if it was, how much value does this sentiment even have? Maybe the random Asian people with guns wouldn’t be so mad if they just smoked a joint or four?
As a “buddy” movie, there is a contrast between two duos worthy of note. There is the Dale/Saul pair and the Matheson/Budlofsky pair. The contrast is interesting. End of note.
Ultimately, though, this is a film that would be better taken as a tale literally told by one that is stoned, a narration rather than a film taken at face value. In fact, at the end, when the characters are reminscing about their adventures over breakfast, I was half expecting it to be revealed that the entire story was simply something they made up because they were so high. Heavy handed, maybe, but at least then it would make sense. Because as it stands now, it makes absolutely none.
To me, this film brings up the much larger issue of modern media. This is a film with a budget of $25 million, which made over $100 million in gross revenue. Fundamentally, Pineapple Express is a stupid movie that epitomizes the idea of bread and circuses with half-hearted pretenses of characterization, and the people making these movies think that this is exactly what the people want, and, in doing so, declare that you, the viewer, are stupid. And the question is: are you? Or perhaps you’re simply stoned. Either way, Columbia Pictures made a hell of a lot of money while audiences tried to figure this very question out for themselves in theaters.
In conclusion, I liked Harold and Kumar better. At least in that movie Bobby Lee didn’t get shot.