2008 Woodie Awards
A movie of stoners, by stoners, for stoners
Ben Marxer
Issue date: 8/26/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
They don't make many stoner comedies these days. That's because it's hard to market a drug culture movie during primetime network television where they have rules minimizing overt drug references. As a result, movies like "Half Baked" have had to resort to sly innuendos with tag lines like "A movie about best BUDS." (Get it? BUDS!?).
It's because of this marketing problem that the script for "Pineapple Express" sat on the shelf for seven years until writer/star Seth Rogen got enough Hollywood clout with the "Superbad" and "40 year-old Virgin" crowd.
"Pineapple Express" is a new take on the "buddy-comedy" movie genre, investigating a strange cultural relationship that many of us encounter-the dealer/client relationship.
They are not your friends, but you're forced into a strange camaraderie, born from being partners in these illegal transactions. It's a unlikely friendship that comes from the trust that both of you having your hands stamped in the same underground club.
But still, at its core, it's an association based on commerce. Just because they're on your speed dial doesn't mean you'll be inviting them to your birthday party.
Though you wouldn't be able to tell from the television advertisements, the film's story revolves around a pot dealer and his favorite customer. Their simple stoner lives become severely disrupted when one of them, as the result of a series of increasingly unlikely events witnesses a murder, causing them both to go on the run.
The plot kind of thickens beyond that point. The characters find themselves bumbling through the woods, then bumbling through a neighborhood, then bumbling through an alleyway, then bumbling through a number of unlikely and drawn out action sequences. But this isn't a film you watch for the plot points.
You watch for the pratfalls.
I've always been a harsh critic of comedies. I'm the killjoy in the parking lot after the movie telling you why the Will Ferrell film you just laughed your ass off to is actually really dumb, and you should feel dumb for liking it.
It's because of this marketing problem that the script for "Pineapple Express" sat on the shelf for seven years until writer/star Seth Rogen got enough Hollywood clout with the "Superbad" and "40 year-old Virgin" crowd.
"Pineapple Express" is a new take on the "buddy-comedy" movie genre, investigating a strange cultural relationship that many of us encounter-the dealer/client relationship.
They are not your friends, but you're forced into a strange camaraderie, born from being partners in these illegal transactions. It's a unlikely friendship that comes from the trust that both of you having your hands stamped in the same underground club.
But still, at its core, it's an association based on commerce. Just because they're on your speed dial doesn't mean you'll be inviting them to your birthday party.
Though you wouldn't be able to tell from the television advertisements, the film's story revolves around a pot dealer and his favorite customer. Their simple stoner lives become severely disrupted when one of them, as the result of a series of increasingly unlikely events witnesses a murder, causing them both to go on the run.
The plot kind of thickens beyond that point. The characters find themselves bumbling through the woods, then bumbling through a neighborhood, then bumbling through an alleyway, then bumbling through a number of unlikely and drawn out action sequences. But this isn't a film you watch for the plot points.
You watch for the pratfalls.
I've always been a harsh critic of comedies. I'm the killjoy in the parking lot after the movie telling you why the Will Ferrell film you just laughed your ass off to is actually really dumb, and you should feel dumb for liking it.
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