(Uh oh. Someone's done it. Some slack-jawed yokel from the Great White North had the moxie to compare Pineapple Express, the new Seth Rogen stoner comedy, to cult classic The Big Lebowski:
As such, "Pineapple Express" is to action movies what "The Big Lebowski" was to film noir: a brilliant pastiche of the genre in which every classic set-up goes spectacularly off-track because the protagonists are always high!
Whatever will Justin say about this? His favorite comedy compared to a rambling movie that takes 111 minutes to do what it could have done in half the time? Stoner jokes stacked on homo jokes alongside racial jokes, violence and grossout humor. Pineapple's plot is an antithesis to the foggy haze of a plot included in Lebowski, the latter of which serves only to confuse watchers, leaving them in awkward suspense while nailing them with off-the-cuff humor. Pineapple's plot is so grossly simplified, it soon turns into a parody of different genre flicks [action, buddy cop] that falls flat in the face of its contemporaries [notably Hot Fuzz].
He probably thinks that Lebowski is forever re-watchable [part of a cult classic's charm], whereas the only reason to watch Pineapple more than once is to figure out what was said when the audience was laughing loudly after a "fuck" joke. The film remains engrossed in its own brand of humor, rarely letting the opportunity for a quick joke about reefer to pass by without one of its characters, alternatively snickering or paranoid, stumbling haphazardly into the joke void, reaching for yet another nugget of stoner wisdom.
Plus, where are all the babes? Justin probably doesn't need to be told that this whole thing is a homo mockfest, but the only woman in the flick was a cop. In full uniform. Sheesh!
I wonder if he'll mention how the trailer was cooler than the movie because of its use of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," which he expected to be included in the movie at some key moment.
I think he's still waiting.
Whoa! Gotta go! Here he comes...)
Man, I can't believe Pineapple Express was such a disappointment! I mean, the acting was okay, and a lot of the jokes were funny, but after the first third, you might as well just leave the theater and go get some snacks or something. Or pizza... mmm.
Come on! They didn't even use "Paper Planes"!
2/5 stars.
