Pineapple Express (***)

Eventually, this comic romp becomes too close to the action movie it’s parodying. Until then, it’s a fairly inventive story of what could (probably not) happen if a couple of schlubs got mixed up with some bad dudes. Seth Rogen is the regular-Joe witness to a murder whose failure affinity for a rare marijuana strain—and failure to clean up his own stubs—gets him in trouble. Call it the telltale toke. Versatile James Franco is the addled dealer who bickers and buddies with Rogen’s more-sensible type. Both eventually get mistaken for some serious criminal types and interact with a motley assortment of dimwits and badasses.

Though helmed by David Gordon Green, director of the cerebral All the Real Girls and Snow Angels, the movie’s screenplay and story are by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Judd Apatow, whose overlapping credits include Superbad and Knocked Up. On the spectrum of witty satire to slob comedy, Pineapple Express leans farther in the latter direction than those other two (Rogen’s slacker character is dating a high school girl), but still isn’t afraid to show its characters’ tender side (but he really loves her!), even as it winds up with them slaying henchman and running from some serious pyrotechnics.

IMDB link

viewed 8/28/08 at Moorestown; reviewed 1/19/09

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (**1/4)

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle didn’t quite reinvent the stoner comedy, but it had a unique dynamic between the two leads and seemed organically conceived. This feels strained, like the work of people forced to come up with a second act when the first one said all that needed to be said. Despite all the emphasis on pot humor, the duo (John Cho, Kal Penn) here don’t seem like stoners, just smart kids who make foolish choices, like lighting up on a plane, which is how Guantanamo comes into the picture. Yes, it’s strained. The ensuing escape turns this into a road movie, with the boys fleeing the law and trying to hook up with once and future girlfriends. An amiable goofiness pervades. The reappearance of Neil Patrick Harris as pot-smoking, prostitute-loving “Neil Patrick Harris” (to quote the credits) has an amusing randomness about it. Some of the humor relates to stereotyping, not only of the Asian stars but a redneck couple who help out the two fugitives. The characters are still solid, but neither the plot nor the jokes are enough to make this stand out among other comic offerings.

IMDB link

viewed 5/3/08; revised 3/30/14

previous version of review:

An admission: I never saw Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, so I have no idea if this is worse or better. As for this sequel, I wasn’t impressed one way or the other. Despite all the emphasis on pot humor, the duo (John Cho, Kal Penn) don’t seem like stoners, just smart kids who make foolish choices, like lighting up on a plane, which is how Guantanamo comes into the picture. The ensuing escape turns this into a road movie, with the boys fleeing the law and trying to hook up with once and future girlfriends. An amiable goofiness pervades. The reappearance of Neil Patrick Harris as pot-smoking, prostitute-loving “Neil Patrick Harris” (to quote the credits) has an amusing randomness about it. Some of the humor relates to stereotyping, not only of the Asian stars but a redneck couple who help out the two fugitives. I liked the characters, but neither the plot nor the jokes are enough to make this stand out among other comic offerings.

Smiley Face (**1/2)

I guess this is pretty original, as stoner comedies go, because it involves a female (Anna Faris) as the lead instead of two dudes. Other than that, it follows the common template of the stoner getting involved in a bunch of mischief in the course of one day. It’s a nice role for Faris, who plays a lot of dumb girls. Here she is supposed to be smart (with an economics degree!), but addled to an extent that about equals Harold and Kumar put together. The character has not much of a backstory, and the ending is pretty anti-climactic, but here and there there is inspiration. Director Greg Araki enlivens things with mini-flashbacks and tiny bits of animation to illustrate a mind under the influence.

IMDb link

viewed March 28–29, 2014, on iPad (streaming) and posted 3/30/14