The best part of Pineapple Express? The M.I.A. song in the preview
By Dana Stewart
Published: August 12th, 2008 | 11:45am
With Pineapple Express, Seth Rogen attempts to answer the question, “Why hasn’t anyone made a stoner action comedy?” The short answer is this: ‘cause it’s not that funny.
The “action” part necessitates a plot, and on this tip the movie grabs at many straws. Rogen plays a 25-year-old civil servant, with no apparent family or home life, who smokes a ton of pot. His dealer, the genuinely funny James Franco, wants the two to be friends, and they end up ensconced together in a madcap murder-mystery-chase caper. It ends with a very conventional shoot-em-up that is cheap homage to Tarantino. Needless to say, not a lot of this makes sense.
It seems that Rogen might be best off sticking with his bread and butter; there’s nothing wrong with weed, dick, and fart jokes.
Of course these kinds of jokes are funny – poop and sex jokes are some of the funniest of all jokes. But it feels like Rogen (and frequent collaborator Judd Apatow, for that matter) think their movies are more than just comedies — that they make some sort of pithy statement on the contemporary human condition. Pineapple Express has some legitimately funny moments (the bit part by Ed Begley, Jr. is genius, and Danny McBride, as mulleted weirdo Red, has some of the funniest lines), but the meat of the movie is not funny, nor is it meaningful.
It’s “Dude, what if there was an action movie, with like car chases and guys in black suits with guns, and evil villains and everything, but the main characters were like us, and just totally high the whole time? Dude…” made into a movie. Rogen has said as much in interviews.
By some stroke of fate, Rogen has become an A-list celebrity, complete with a Vanity Fair photo shoot, in which he stood in for Cary Grant in North by Northwest. He’s one of the spokesguys for the “nerds are cool” movement, championed by Apatow, Jon Stewart, and most popular hip culture.
Trouble is, I simply cannot stop thinking about the fact that if Rogen were a woman, he’d never be starring in his own movie. I can’t stop thinking about all the cool, talented, hilarious ladies who are the female equivalent of Rogen, similarly do not fit the mainstream ideal of “acceptable body type,” and who got left in Judd Apatow & Co.’s collective dust.
Ever since Freaks & Geeks, the Apatow Doctrine has allowed for an expansion of what a male on TV (eventually in movies) can look like. This was never extended to females. From Linda Cardinelli on Freaks & Geeks, both Jules and Becca in Superbad, and now Rogen’s girlfriend, the ridiculously beautiful Amber Heard as Angie in Pineapple Express, the women in Rogen/Apatow films are conventionally, infuriatingly, beautiful. There’s no way that’s a coincidence.
The annoying high school girlfriend subplot only adds to the surprisingly conventional structure of Pineapple Express, resulting in a sub-par, only knee-jerk funny movie. Perhaps, though, it has yet to fulfill its real purpose: being watched on DVD, by stoners, while getting stoned. And hey, if it makes someone happy… we shouldn’t expect too much.
Issue #25
Comments
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retrovertigous (4 months)
you think as one who is reviewing films, one should be knowledgeable about said film and films in general. north by northwest is a classic. starring cary grant. not james stewart. one quick look at the cover could have told you that. which should have been easy for you considering the countless snap judgments you made all over the rest of this article.
DanaStewart (4 months)
Oops! that was a big mistake, its clearly Cary Grant. I will actually change this in the article asap. i stand by the rest of the review, feel free to engage the actual criticisms of the film i had instead of my character.
kathleenkeish (4 months)
I believe I must disagree. While I believe you have the right to your opinion about the movie, I don't agree with taking every male-centric movie and making a feminist argument out of it. You mention Rogen and the Apatow clan as achieving such success because they are male, despite not fitting into Hollywood's ideal of a leading man. If anything, that right there compliments feminist ideals perfectly. Seth Rogen is an attainable foil to the likes of Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. He is attractive, intelligent, incredibly funny, and very talented. (He is a successful behind-the-scenes writer). Personally, I think Apatow's use of the everyman is a credit to women; Rogen is type of guy I, as a girl not fitting into the cookie cutter mold herself, aspires to attain. It is nice to see films catering to the taste of women who don't look for six packs and hairless chests. And you mention that it was never extended to females. Last time I checked, Cardinelli and the actresses who play Jules and Becca hardly fit into the bevy of traditional Hollywood beauties. They are modestly attractive, like most normal women. Also, they hold their own on screen, often rivaling their male counterparts. Don't fault them because they're hot. Labeling them as merely 'conventionally beautiful' discredits their actual talent. And as for Heard, I found her character to be merely a tool comedic purposes. The movie is primarily about the relationship between Rogen and Franco, and it seemed as if she was on the outside to add some more complexity to the situation. However, men act as such in many female-oriented movies as well. Don't bust on a buddy comedy that came out three days before Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. While I think you make several valid points about society in general, whats the use of viewing every movie and assuming it is in some way, shape, or form a social commentary on women? If you want to champion for the every woman, then do so for the every man as well.
efritz (3 months)
I would definitely agree that Apatow's movies usually star beautiful women in contrast to the not-so-beautiful men, although this is the norm for all movies, not just his specifically. As for the rest of the movie, I thought all the jokes were on the mark, and just an enjoyable movie overall.
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