Thursday, August 7, 2008

Yay, Pineapple Express, thank you for surpassing my already unreasonably high expectations.

I think maybe I suck at explaining what I like about certain movies unless it's in the context of a heated argument. But I'm going to keep trying, because apparently I've appointed myself passionate defender of underrated awesomeness in popular entertainment.

Pineapple Express is excellent. I had very high hopes because I love stoner comedies, I love Seth Rogan, I love James Franco, and I love Judd Apatow. All that love might indicate that my opinion of the movie is just a smidgen biased and therefore unreliable, but I assure you that I am also unnecessarily critical of everything ever, so I generally do not throw out undeserved praise.

I hate action movies and I'm ridiculously squeamish about violence, so I was a little apprehensive about that aspect of Pineapple Express. And they did not hold back on the violence. There were definitely parts that were gorier than necessary. But the action and violence were so hilariously done that I couldn't help but enjoy it, which is so weird for me. I expected to laugh throughout the entire movie, which I did, but I did not expect to get so caught up in the action. When I left the theater I could still feel my heart pumping faster than usual and I was like, "Oh, is this excited feeling the reason people like action movies and roller coasters? Cool, I get it now!"

Also, I thought Seth Rogan and James Franco were fantastic and I'm so glad that they decided to switch up the roles. I don't think the movie would have been nearly as good if Franco had played Dale and Rogan had played Saul.

My only complaint is that I was ever so slightly unsatisfied by the conclusion. I don't want to give too much away, but drugs and drug-dealing are extremely central to the conflict, and I wished that near the end, the main characters had pondered this fact and its relationship to their own drug use and drug-dealing. Not that I wanted a moralizing ending at all - that would have been awful - but I assumed that they would address it somehow. But it wasn't exactly a philosophical and introspective film, so this small disappointment really didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.

See Pineapple Express! That is all.

1 comment:

Jonny said...

I haven't been here for awhile (i'm sorry), but i agree whole heartedly with this post. Good Job Caitlin.