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Last year at this time, everyone was talking about the Apatow gang�s slacker comedy, Superbad. Geeky teenage boys (or at least those capable of sneaking into an R-rated movie) flocked to theaters to see three other geeky teenage boys on a quest to get drunk and get laid. The rest of us, though, just didn�t quite get it.
I pretty much expected the same to be true of this August�s Apatow comedy, Pineapple Express: that 20-something stoners would love it, while the rest of us would just get lost in the smoke. But, believe it or not, I kinda got it, too.
Pineapple Express stars Seth Rogen as process server and pothead Dale Denton. While on the job one night, Dale stops to take a smoke break and witnesses a murder. With nowhere else to turn (and his with head still cloudy from the dopest dope he�s ever smoked), Dale goes running to his drug dealer, Saul (James Franco).
Since one of the killers was a cop (Rosie Perez) and the other one was drug kingpin Ted Jones (Gary Cole)�who also happens to be Saul�s supplier�the two figure they�re in serious trouble. So they pack a bag of weed and make a run for it. But Jones�s goons�and the cops�aren�t far behind.
Despite my general lack of enthusiasm for stoner comedies, Pineapple Express quickly won me over. Though it�s basically the story of two potheads on the run, it�s entertaining anyway�even if you happen to be completely sober. Maybe that�s because it�s not just a stoner comedy. It�s also a buddy flick. And a road trip movie. It�s even a quirky crime thriller. So it�s more than just a couple of guys sitting on a couch, eating Cheetos, and giggling.
Of course, it doesn�t hurt that the main characters are a couple of loveable losers. Though Rogen isn�t bad as Dale, Franco steals the show as na�ve and trusting (and absolutely hilarious) dealer, Saul.
And maybe it helps that the comedy isn�t the typical Apatow fare. While it�s often crude and sophomoric, the gross-out gags and sexual humor are kept to a minimum, leaving a whole bunch of silly and light-hearted (and light-headed) laughs. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it made me laugh a whole lot more than it made me cringe.
The only real problem with Pineapple Express is that it�s longer than necessary. It�s been my complaint with Apatow comedies time and time again: they just don�t know when to stop. And the same is true here. Director David Gordon Green attempts to end big�with a huge, over-the-top action scene. But instead of making the movie more thrilling, the action sequences feel flat and out of place. It�s too bad, too�because it ends an otherwise hilarious movie on a low point.
Still, I�d definitely recommend Pineapple Express over both Superbad and this year�s other stoner adventure, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. It�s good for a few brainless, late-summer laughs�and you don�t even have to indulge to enjoy it.
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