Media Credit: Courtesy of Sony Pictures

It's midnight and you're in that goofy state of exhaustion where anything dumb will pry a big laugh out of you. You want it to be silly, hair-brained, and non-stop: You want a stoner comedy. The genre, much like the B movies of old, is essentially designed to make a quick buck at late-night showings, its patrons being viewers with puffy red eyes from either exhaustion or illegal activities. Cheech and Chong had their day in mainstream culture, but they were unique. Now we think of Harold and Kumar as the next big thing, but considering that their first film's overall take was about half of what a Will Ferrell comedy makes on opening weekend, you start to realize how specialized of a genre the stoner comedy really is. And that's what makes "Pineapple Express," a big budget, action-comedy that runs on the most distinct of fumes, such a rarity.



Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) lives what would have to be considered a lazy-man's version of the high life. His job is to serve subpoenas, a task he accomplishes by putting on costumes to fool his victims into stating their real name. The job affords him plenty of leisure time, which he spends listening to talk radio, visiting his girlfriend at the high school she attends, and smoking tons of pot. One day his dealer, Saul Silver (James Franco), sells him some Pineapple Express, a plant he refers to as "the dopest dope I've ever smoked," an herb so rare that he's the only one in the city selling it. Denton parks his car outside his next defendant's house and lights up. Unfortunately for him, the man he's set to serve is in the middle of murdering someone right in front of his window. Denton unwittingly witnesses the act before noisily fleeing the scene, leaving a roach on the ground that he quickly realizes might be traced back to Silver and himself. Fearing for their lives, Denton and Silver hit the road, in what soon becomes an action-filled blood bath as they battle the murderer and his goons.



Producer Judd Apatow might have his name attached to just about every comedy these days, but his brand name only counts when he's working with "his guys" (Rogen, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, etc.). "Pineapple Express" is perhaps the most obvious example of "the Apatow Gang" to date; nearly every actor was also featured in last year's "Superbad," with a little help from the casts of "Knocked Up," and "Freaks and Geeks." At times, the movie almost feels like a "Saturday Night Live" skit, much of the pleasure being derived from seeing who shows up next.

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