The Bar

Starring: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, James Remar, Joe Lo Truglio

Director: David Gordon Green

Writer(s): Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Studio: Sony Pictures

Rating: R

Official Bar Score: 

Dale Denton is your typical pothead trying to get by working his 9-5. That is if by typical you mean a twenty-five year old stoner whose job is serving court papers to people who has a girlfriend in high school, then yeah Dale is very typical. Of course if that was all there was to the movie then there wouldn’t be much to talk about now would there? Well Dale makes a pit stop by his drug deal Saul to pick up a stash when Saul shows him this new weed that he’s the only one in town who has called “pineapple express.” Well when your drug of choice is described to you as smelling like God’s vagina then how can you pass it up?

However it’s this drug that ultimately leads to the meat of the story. While parking out the house of the next person who he is about to serve court papers for a smoke break Dale witnesses a murder. In a panic he gets rid of the weed and gets out of there, but not before hitting two cars one of which belongs to a cop. Much like your typical over the top action film, the villains are able to trace the weed back to Dale and his drug dealer Saul (something Dale in his paranoia pieces together) forcing the two to run for their life.

That’s the story in a nutshell and as crazy and far fetched as it may seem, the guys really make it work, somehow creating a movie that starts as your typical stoner comedy and ends up being a comedic action film filled to the brim with laugh out loud moments. Think if Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg made Hot Fuzz but with a little less action, more comedy, and weed. The result would be Pineapple Express.

Still while the movie was good, something should be said about two people who truly brought this movie to a whole new level. First up is Danny Mcbride, while his impact is felt on a smaller level yet he progressively gets funnier and funnier until he very much starts stealing scenes, similar to what he did in Hot Rod as Rico but on a much larger scale. He really got a chance to shine in this film and with this being his second Apatow flick hopefully he becomes a mainstay.

Secondly there is the show stealer himself, the man who easily took a funny movie to a hilarious movie, James Franco. Going in I pretty much knew Franco from the Spiderman films and his brief cameo in Knocked Up. Here he showed a different side of his repertoire and may very literally not had a single unfunny moment in the whole movie. It wasn’t just his lines though, it was his delivery. Not only did he crack you up with dialog but the actions and mannerisms of his character sold the scenes even more. I will very confidently say that absolutely no one will have a comedic role funnier than Franco this year, without a doubt. With that in mind, take note guys get him in more of your movies.

Going in to this film I had hoped for a simple 3 1/2 - 4 beer movie and was a bit sketchy as to how I would receive the movie. No doubt I would like it but to what extent. At no point did I expect to get a film that I would easily put as the #2 movie put out by the Apatow camp only behind The 40 Year Old Virgin, and one of the best comedies I’ve seen in awhile. Though I will say this, while The 40 Year Old Virgin is the better overall movie, Pineapples Express manages to reverse a trend I’ve noticed in most of the Apatow films.

My biggest pet peeve has always been the fact that there movies start funny then get a little serious in the middle and then start to lose steam towards the end in terms of pure comedy. Pineapple Express instead spreads out it’s material early and then progressively gets funnier and funnier as the movie progresses never really letting up until the final credits are rolling.

The movie has it all, stoner comedy out the wazoo, all the 80’s action cliches you can handle (the one liners towards the end are priceless), Rosie Perez and Lumberg as villains, and the best comedic performance of the year. If it’s comedy you are after then see this movie.

Fuck the police.

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