You’d be hard pressed to find a film that has
as many contradictory elements as Pineapple
Express. Its director, David Gordon Green, is
a darling of the indie film circuit, with such esoteric works as George Washington and All the Real Girls under his
belt; its stars, Seth Rogen and James Franco, are alumni of the Judd Apatow
school of everyman comedy. And though there is no denying the talent each
of these players brings to the table, the movie’s plot is as old as
the hills and is really nothing more than chase comedy that turns suddenly
violent in its final act. If you can imagine a combination of Cheech and
Chong’s Up in Smoke with De Palma’s Scarface, you’ll have a sense of what you are getting into.
Rogen is Dale Denton, a midtwenties slacker whose job
as a process server does nothing more than support his pot habit. If he
could smoke in his sleep, he would, and his supplier, Saul Silver (Franco)
takes a similar approach to life. However, their aimless lives are upturned
one day when Dale witnesses a murder committed by crime lord Ted Jones
(Gary Cole) and a corrupt cop (Rosie Perez). Before you know it, Dale and
Saul are on the run, with the police, mobsters, and ninjas on their tails
— they’ve unwittingly stumbled into a gang war between rival
drug factions.
As I said, there’s nothing that original here,
but what makes the film entertaining is the chemistry between its two
stars, who update the dynamics of the classic comedy duo for a new
generation. Rogen is the exasperated straight man to Franco’s
dim-bulb innocent and their comedic timing has obviously been honed by
their years of collaboration both on and off the screen. Their circular
conversations, simultaneously exasperating and hilarious, propel the film
when it nearly jumps the tracks. However, the real trick is that these two
performers make you come to care for their addled characters once the
bullets start flying and the film ends up a blood-soaked, drug-propelled
ode to friendship. This Express may lead nowhere, but it’s a fun journey just
the same.
I was more than a bit surprised when I ended up
liking The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I am obviously not the demographic group that film
was aiming for, but a movie made with genuine intelligence and wit can
transcend genre constraints. I wish I could say the same about the sequel,
which has many of the same elements as the first but lacks cohesion and
passion.
The film picks up three years after the original, and
the young women who share the magical pants of the title are all on
different paths. Bridget (Blake Lively) is off to Turkey on an
archaeological dig, Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is struggling both at film school
and with romance, Lena (Alexis Bledel) is dealing with a broken heart and
trying to make it in the art world, and Carmen (America Ferrera),
originally involved behind the scenes of a summer-stock production of A Winter’s Tale, finds
herself in a starring role.
The journey to womanhood for each of them is fraught
with emotional peril as they all have to find the confidence and strength
to be independent souls in a world in which conformity is the norm. Having
to deal with love doesn’t help. These sentiments are all well and
good and teen viewers need to see them on the big screen. However, the film
has far too much on its plate and as it progresses plot points are rushed
and the last half-hour turns into a globetrotting travelogue whose sole
purpose is wrap up loose plotlines. These young women and their fans
deserve more.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2008.
