Pot makes you invincible. That's the life lesson I came away with after viewing Pineapple Express, the latest film to issue from the Apatow/Rogen/Goldberg super-comedy film collective.
The movie is a buddy comedy about three stoners who find themselves in way over their head. It's been billed an action comedy, but the fight scenes in the movie are filmed in such a way that they stay squarely within a comic aesthetic. These three, played with winning charm by Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Danny McBride, have obviously never before been in fights. The action scenes are depicted clumsily, the awkward fumblings of people who have no desire to be in the situations in which they have found themselves. And therein lies the heart of the movies' humor.
The three potheads are not typical action movie heroes, they are three average dudes, and they look the part, especially Rogen and McBride who bring and everyman charm to their roles. These are characters you want to hang out with, and watching the movie feels almost like spending an afternoon chumming around, shooting the breeze with the guys. The dialogue is the kind of stuff bandied around by any group of 20-something slackers: not intrinsically funny, but delivered in such a way that the audience can't help but laugh.
The film is unusual for pictures in Apatow's stable, because it contains no message about growing up, taking responsibility and becoming a man. And perhaps this is where director David Gordon Green's presence is felt most strongly. At the end of the film, no life lessons have been learned, the stoners don't give up weed, and no major revelations about life have been received. The three buddies simply wander off, likely to find themselves in the midst of another drug-fueled misadventure.
Overall, the film is time well-wasted hanging out with three loveable stoner pals.
