The dust will settle on a record-breaking summer movie season and much will be made of super heroes and unexpected, makeup-infested comedic portrayals. But an unassuming stoner comedy that breaks free of the mold and becomes something akin to sheer film-going bliss will be one of the few left standing.
A truly side-splitting yarn that takes its lead from Cheech and Chong and the greatest (or worst) of 1980s action and comedy standards, the film carves its own spot as a new staple. And going into an Oscar season that looks a bit shallow from afar, “Pineapple Express” seems to be the best film 2008 has had to offer so far.
Hell of a thing.
Fresh, authentic, appreciative of its lineage and rife with absolute truths of the stoner way, this one was always guaranteed to leave your gut cramped from unyielding laughter. At the center, however, is a strange thread of realism that is incredibly intriguing. No matter the level of absurdity this sequence or that may reach, on some level, one can’t shake the sense that if these things were going to happen…this is exactly how it would go down.
It’s an odd characteristic that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen out of a film such as this, and all the credit in the world seems to belong to filmmaker David Gordon Green. After making his way in the indie sector on his own terms, his marriage to this material becomes the most natural fit to date.