Pineapple Express

Damn you, Judd Apatow.  Every time I try one of your movies I always come away depressed.  Doesn't matter if you actually directed the thing.  Just the appearance of your name in the credits guarantees that I will again lament the state of slob comedy in the twenty-first century.  Heir to throne of Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, or John Landis?  You make me laugh, and not in the way you desire, sir.  Your material is just not funny, or all that insightful.  At least in any meaningful fashion unseen prior.  You're a hack, dude.

2008's PINEAPPLE EXPRESS was merely produced by Apatow, but every inch of it reeks of his influence.  Most obvious is the presence of his frequent collaborator, co-screenwriter/star Seth Rogen, who is likewise not funny.  Not at all.  He tries to pull off that detached/couldn't give a shit attitude much of the time.  When real acting is necessary, he either overdoes it or tries to diffuse perilous scenarios with stupid contemporary speak, the sort of sound bite humor that I'm ashamed to say I sometimes use in daily conversation myself.  Two hours of it is soulless and deadly.  At least Chevy Chase's and Bill Murray's improvisation were clever and entertaining.

Unlike Apatow movies like KNOCKED UP and THIS IS 40, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS takes the low road to stoner comedy, but give me Cheech & Chong any day, bruh.  Rogen plays grown up slob/shlub Dale Denton, a process server with a high school girlfriend and dreams of becoming a radio talk show host.  His main hobby - getting high.  He gets his stash from Saul Silver (James Franco, who is funny here), some of which gives this movie its title.  The plot kicks into gear when Dale accidentally leaves the remains of his joint at a murder scene.  The killers are a local kingpin named Ted (Gary Gole) and a corrupt cop named Carol (Rosie Perez).  They are connected to a competitor of Saul's named Red (Danny McBride, also funny at times).

Most of the film follows Dale's and Saul's flight from the above characters and several others. Their bonding isn't all that amusing.   There is a lot of destruction and physical pain gags that are a chore to watch.  Not that director David Gordon Green doesn't know how to pull them off without some skill, but who cares? It all feels desperate. Aggressively unfunny.  Worst of all was watching veterans like Ed Begley Jr. and Nora Dunn embarrass themselves.