PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

Envy me, I saw it early.

But didn't everybody in this town? PINEAPPLE EXPRESS had more advance screenings than I recall for any film in Fire City in near history. Or maybe not, but I just happened to hear about all of them. I have a friend who saw it back in April. I gave up two tickets (I had procured from some schlep burning the afternoon oil while hocking brochures) to coworkers who then had the joy of seeing the film back in early June. I myself saw it a week ago yesterday. And I have five more friends who just saw it last weekend.

For those counting, the film "opens" (hasn't it already opened?) this Saturday. And I don't quite get why Mr. Apatow, or the marketing majors who manage his frontal lobe, are trying to generate so much buzz so early. Do they fear the likes of a fourth formidable session from DARK KNIGHT? Are they scared Brendan Frazer and his shoulda-stayed-dead MUMMY series will somehow swat them out of the top five? Or that "intelligent moviegoers" will all shirk the stoner fare of PINEAPPLE to see BRIDESHEAD REVISITED or SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS: THE NEW PANTS? At any rate, it kind of makes it seem like (A)they either think the movie doesn't speak for itself, and therefore have to rally my coworkers, friends, and others like me to do the speaking; or (B)they think the movie is so cool, they're proving they have no fear by showing it early to gads and gads of movie people and random people alike, because they figure we'll (a)see it again, repeatedly, or (b)tell someone else to, repeatedly.

I'm shooting for the trifecta of B+(a+b). Because PINEAPPLE EXPRESS rocks. It is like the best bromance movie since...I guess ANCHORMAN or WEDDING CRASHERS or somewhere in that scene, and though it is nothing like them--a lot more senseless acts of violence, not to mention bong-hitting--it echoes the mood both these earlier comedic classics (yeah, I said it, and they're not even ten years old: CLASSICS. Boomtown.) capitalised on so well: the abiding strength and inherent hilarity of the "bromance."

Seth Rogen seemingly plays himself, which is kinda lame, but you forgive him for it, because he strikes me as a pretty laid-back, funny guy just naturally, and you can't knock him for that. James Franco plays a completely non-SPIDERMAN-ified version of himself, a version birthed from the early tomes of "Freaks and Geeks" that has enjoyed ample maturation and weed-ification that...by Zeus, I find really attractive. His character didn't change clothes, nor probably shower, through the whole film, and he never lost an ounce of the Franco sex appeal. Please, nobody tell me he's gay. 'Cause I'd like to lust for a minute....

Okay, I'm back. The film--if anyone out there actually has yet to see it--centers around a pot user (Rogen) and dealer (Franco) who inadvertently are forced into a close friendship after said user accidentally watches a murder and is traced by the murderer's posse back to said dealer by way of a discarded blunt. Hijinks ensue. And except for the haggard faces of and slightly lame interjections from our bad guys, as well as some...fairly over-the-top scenes of gratuitous violence, PINEAPPLE's hijinks all hit home.

I loved this movie, and I definitely want to see it again. It's no HAROLD AND KUMAR (little to no political humor is injected within the otherwise lighthearted and borderline disgusting stoner adventures--plus there's no Niel Patrick Harris), but it does feature a cameo from Cheech and Chong, and in sentimentality, it hits right about the mood of SWINGERS, which I just saw for the first time two nights ago (more to come), and which I think is the perfect level of bromance. Like the Favreau-Vaughn starrer, PINEAPPLE is, at its core, sweet. It's filled with unbelievable violence and lots of pot, and other stuff commensurate with the young bachelor man lifestyle, but they don't even waste time showing random amounts of T&A (that's "tits and ass"), because that isn't the point of the film. Apparently. It's really about a good deal of this male bonding brotherly huggable sweetness...and to that effect, there's quite a bit of latent (or overt?) homosexuality, actually.

Seriously, don't say anything about Franco. Let me lust.

the plot: Pot only creates funny problems.
the thought: What were we talking about? I'm hungry....
in five: 4/5

smoke it: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/pineappleexpress/