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Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008) -
I have two interesting ways to look at this film independently from just some "alleged" objective way. I'll start with my objective look. I don't really think this is the kind of film which needs much of a plot description. Just let it be known that it involves a drug dealer (James Franco), his client (Seth Rogen) who works as a process server, the dealer's drug providing kingpin (Gary Cole) and the kingpin's murderous renegade cop lover (Rosie Perez). Throw in the client's high school-attending girlfriend and her family, the fact that the stoners witness a murder, and that they will pursued by the kingpin's hitmen until they too are killed, and you already know more than you need to. Well, maybe the other thing you need to know is that stoners are stupid, so rest assured, what everybody does will probably be more idiotic than you could imagine, and therefore, it's OK to laugh! Yes, the film has a lot of laughs and a surprising amount of action and suspense too, so c'mon, what's not to like?
As I mentioned above, as the film went along, I started comparing it to things in two different ways. First off, I started thinking that this and Tropic Thunder are basically two sides of the same coin. Big studio comedy/action thrillers with idiot characters and some big laughs. Now, I give Tropic Thunder , and I've seen it twice. I'm going to rewatch Pineapple Express again before I return it, but I'm pretty sure I'll keep it at because even though those two movies are obviously not the same movie, I bet most viewers could come up with dozens of reasons about how similar they are and how they probably appeal to the same audience. The other thing I started to think about during the film was that a few of the scenes just started dragging for me partway through. Now, I wasn't sure if it was because of the writing or the direction, but I'm one of those in the minority of people who allegedly watch movies with a critical eye because I've always found director Green's work to be ponderous and pretentious. In fact, when I heard that he was directing a zany stoner comedy, I had a hard time grasping the concept, but I thnk he did a fine job. All of Apatow's comedies seem to be a bit overlong and Tropic Thunder was definitely overlong, so these completely pointless perspectives still seem to support my idea that the two films deserve the same rating. Hi, Iro!
I have two interesting ways to look at this film independently from just some "alleged" objective way. I'll start with my objective look. I don't really think this is the kind of film which needs much of a plot description. Just let it be known that it involves a drug dealer (James Franco), his client (Seth Rogen) who works as a process server, the dealer's drug providing kingpin (Gary Cole) and the kingpin's murderous renegade cop lover (Rosie Perez). Throw in the client's high school-attending girlfriend and her family, the fact that the stoners witness a murder, and that they will pursued by the kingpin's hitmen until they too are killed, and you already know more than you need to. Well, maybe the other thing you need to know is that stoners are stupid, so rest assured, what everybody does will probably be more idiotic than you could imagine, and therefore, it's OK to laugh! Yes, the film has a lot of laughs and a surprising amount of action and suspense too, so c'mon, what's not to like?
As I mentioned above, as the film went along, I started comparing it to things in two different ways. First off, I started thinking that this and Tropic Thunder are basically two sides of the same coin. Big studio comedy/action thrillers with idiot characters and some big laughs. Now, I give Tropic Thunder , and I've seen it twice. I'm going to rewatch Pineapple Express again before I return it, but I'm pretty sure I'll keep it at because even though those two movies are obviously not the same movie, I bet most viewers could come up with dozens of reasons about how similar they are and how they probably appeal to the same audience. The other thing I started to think about during the film was that a few of the scenes just started dragging for me partway through. Now, I wasn't sure if it was because of the writing or the direction, but I'm one of those in the minority of people who allegedly watch movies with a critical eye because I've always found director Green's work to be ponderous and pretentious. In fact, when I heard that he was directing a zany stoner comedy, I had a hard time grasping the concept, but I thnk he did a fine job. All of Apatow's comedies seem to be a bit overlong and Tropic Thunder was definitely overlong, so these completely pointless perspectives still seem to support my idea that the two films deserve the same rating. Hi, Iro!