Pineapple Express (2008)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

David Gordon Green

Writers (WGA):

Seth Rogen (screenplay) &
Evan Goldberg (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

6 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Put this in your pipe and smoke it.

Plot:

A stoner and his dealer are forced to go on the run from the police after the pothead witnesses a cop commit a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Stoner | Weed | Murder | On The Run | Witness

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Seth Rogen	...	Dale Denton
James Franco	...	Saul Silver
Danny McBride	...	Red
Kevin Corrigan	...	Budlofsky
Craig Robinson	...	Matheson
Gary Cole	...	Ted Jones
Rosie Perez	...	Carol / Female Cop
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Robert
Nora Dunn	...	Shannon
Amber Heard	...	Angie Anderson
Joe Lo Truglio	...	Mr. Edwards
Arthur Napiontek	...	Clark
Cleo King	...	Police Liaison Officer
Bill Hader	...	Private Miller
James Remar	...	General Bratt
Jonathan Spencer	...	Scientist (as Jonathan Walker Spencer)
Dana Lee	...	Cheung
Bobby Lee	...	Bobby
Ken Jeong	...	Ken
David C. Cook	...	Chris Gebert
Howard S. Lefstein	...	Mark (as Howard Lefstein)
Connie Sawyer	...	Faye Belogus
David McDivitt	...	Cop with Mole
Mae LaBorde	...	Mrs. Mendelson
Kendall Carly Browne	...	Old Woman
George Lew	...	Old Man
John Robert Tramutola	...	Walt (as John Tramutola)
Adam Crosby	...	Ack
Andrew Heald	...	Blake
Jeannetta Arnette	...	Sandra Danby
Carlos Aleman	...	Guy in Car
Omar Leyva	...	Guy in Car #2
Sam Carson	...	Xerox Secretary
Jack Kehler	...	Walter - Accountant
Robert Longstreet	...	Dr. Terrence
Peter Lewis	...	Peter - Thug #1
Steve Bannos	...	Jared - Thug #2
Eddie Rouse	...	Lance - Thug #5
Mark Whigham	...	Thug #3
Brian Scannell	...	Thug #4
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rio Ahn	...	Assassin #2 (uncredited)
Ricky Dôminguez	...	School Guy #1 (uncredited)
Gabe Fiscale	...	Tennis Pro (uncredited)
Brandon G. Holley	...	High School Student (uncredited)
Jourdan Lee Khoo	...	Assassin #1 (uncredited)
Nathan Mussell	...	Paramedic (uncredited)
Sheila Shaw	...	Waitress (uncredited)

Directed by
David Gordon Green

Writing credits (WGA)
Seth Rogen		(screenplay) &
Evan Goldberg		(screenplay)
Judd Apatow		(story) and
Seth Rogen		(story) &
Evan Goldberg		(story)

Produced by
Judd Apatow	....	producer
Evan Goldberg	....	executive producer
Shauna Robertson	....	producer
Seth Rogen	....	executive producer
Dara Weintraub	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Graeme Revell

Cinematography by
Tim Orr		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Craig Alpert

Casting by
Kerry Barden
Billy Hopkins
Suzanne Smith		(as Suzanne Crowley)

Production Design by
Chris L. Spellman		(as Chris Spellman)

Art Direction by
Marc Dabe

Set Decoration by
Bob Kensinger		(as Robert Kensinger)

Costume Design by
John A. Dunn		(as John Dunn)

Makeup Department
Cheryl Eckert	....	hair stylist
Kimberly Greene	....	makeup supervisor
Robert Hall	....	prosthetic makeup effects creator: Almost Human
Eric Koo	....	prosthetic makeup effects sculptor
Erik Porn	....	key prosthetic makeup effects artist
Erin Wooldridge	....	key makeup artist
Melissa A. Yonkey	....	hair department head
Soo-Jin Yoon	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Christa Vausbinder	....	production supervisor
Dara Weintraub	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Dress	....	second second assistant director (as Pete Dress)
Gary Hymes	....	second unit director (as Gary M. Hymes)
Bill Purple	....	second assistant director: second unit (as William Purple)
Lisa M. Rowe	....	second assistant director
Lisa C. Satriano	....	first assistant director
Nick Satriano	....	first assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Jeff Barnett	....	assistant props (as Jeffrey Barnett)
Tom Benardello	....	paint foreman
Michael R. Blaich	....	paint supervisor
Bridget Cardenas	....	stand-by painter
Ryan Falkner	....	storyboard artist
Robert Fechtman	....	assistant art director
Edward A. Giron	....	labor foreman
Karen Higgins	....	construction coordinator (as Karen D. Higgins)
Steven Kissick	....	general foreman (as Steve Kissick)
Eric Koo	....	sculptor
Thierry Labbe	....	leadman
Caryn Marcus	....	set decoration buyer
Martin Milligan	....	on-set dresser
Kim Richey	....	assistant property master
Steve Sickle	....	stand-by greens (as Steve Sickels)
Michelle Spears	....	property master
Brian Tipton	....	shop foreman
Jason Vanover	....	key greens
Kat Wilson	....	art department coordinator (as Katherine Wilson)
Randy L. Childs	....	propmaker foreman (uncredited)
Terry Corliss	....	greens gangboss (uncredited)
David Corral	....	greensman (uncredited)
William Eliscu	....	graphic designer (uncredited)
Kevin Hummel	....	props (uncredited)
James R. Lord	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Canyon Martens	....	greens gangboss (uncredited)
Christopher Morente	....	greensman (uncredited)
Chris Samp	....	set painter (uncredited)
Shane Sankey	....	construction production assistant (uncredited)
Erik Soderstrom	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Andre Sowards	....	on-set dresser: second unit (uncredited)
Schuyler Telleen	....	art department assistant (uncredited)

Sound Department
George H. Anderson	....	supervising sound editor (as George Anderson)
Douglas B. Arnold	....	sound mixer: second unit (as Doug Arnold)
Bill Burns	....	assistant sound editor
Christof Gebert	....	production sound mixer
David Giammarco	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vincent Guisetti	....	foley artist
Michael Haight	....	dialogue editor
Lydia Hollyfield	....	utility sound technician
Pamela Kahn	....	foley artist (as Pamela Nedd Kahn)
Larry Kemp	....	supervising adr editor
Bruce Lacey	....	foley editor
Howard London	....	adr mixer
Cindy Marty	....	sound effects editor
James Matheny	....	dialogue editor
Michael O'Farrell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael O'Farrell	....	supervising sound editor
Kyle Rochlin	....	foley mixer
Joe Schiff	....	assistant sound editor
Knox White	....	boom operator
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer (uncredited)
Rachael Tate	....	adr recordist (uncredited)
Greg Zimmerman	....	adr recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Frazier	....	special effects supervisor
Eric Rylander	....	special effects coordinator
Tommy Frazier	....	special effects foreman (uncredited)
Edward T. Reiff Jr.	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Chris L. Ward	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Josh Bolin	....	compositor: Yard VFX
Chris Chappell	....	compositor: Yard VFX
Scott M. Davids	....	lead compositor: Yard VFX (as Scott Davids)
Jalal Jemison	....	lead compositor: Yard VFX
Dave Johnson	....	visual effects supervisor: Pacific Vision Productions
David D. Johnson	....	visual effects supervisor: Pacific Vision Productions (as Dave Johnson)
Benjamin Locke	....	animator: Yard VFX (as Ben Locke)
Kim O'Donnell	....	compositor: Yard VFX (as Kim Pepe)
Bob Wiatr	....	digital compositor: Pacific Title
Raoul Bolognini	....	visual effects producer: Zoic Studios (uncredited)
Kristen Branan	....	head of production: Zoic Studios (uncredited)
Brian Hanable	....	digital effects compositor: Pacific Title (uncredited)
Sean Kennedy	....	digital effects artist: Pacific Vision Productions (uncredited)
Tyler Nathan	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Rocco Passionino	....	visual effects supervisor (uncredited)
R. Matt Smith	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Sean Tompkins	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)

Stunts
Laura Albert	....	stunts
Gary Baxley	....	stunts
Dickey Beer	....	stunts
Mark Chadwick	....	stunts
James M. Churchman	....	stunt coordinator: second unit (as Jim Churchman)
Corey Michael Eubanks	....	stunts (as Corey Eubanks)
Debbie Evans	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
Sean Graham	....	stunts
Collin Hymes	....	stunts
Gary Hymes	....	stunt coordinator (as Gary M. Hymes)
Yoshio Iizuka	....	stunts
Hiro Koda	....	stunts
Paul Leonard	....	stunts
Ray Lykins	....	stunts
Tom McComas	....	stunts
Jimmy Romano	....	stunts
Mike Smith	....	stunt coordinator
David Wald	....	stunts
Tsuyoshi Abe	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Michael Adams	....	stunt player (uncredited)
Hank Amos	....	stunt rigger (uncredited)
Dean Bailey	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ted Barba	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nick Brandon	....	stunt rigger (uncredited)
Joe Bucaro III	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Richard Bucher	....	stunt double: Gary Cole (uncredited)
Richard Burden	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Fernando Chien	....	stunts (uncredited)
Adam Crosby	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Adam Crosby	....	stunts (uncredited)
Andy Dylan	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Masaaki Endo	....	stunts (uncredited)
Debbie Evans	....	stunt driving double: Rosie Perez (uncredited)
Darin Fujimori	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Tom Harper	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Steve Hassenpflug	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Kevin L. Jackson	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Shawn Lane	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Lin Oeding	....	stunts (uncredited)
Anthony T. Pennello	....	stunts (uncredited)
J.J. Perry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Casey Pieretti	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Simon Rhee	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bridgett Riley	....	stunt double: Rosie Perez (uncredited)
Steve Rizzo	....	stunt double: Seth Rogen (uncredited)
Von L. Roddy	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Todd Schneider	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Kevin Scott	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Wesley Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ron Alexus	....	assistant chief lighting technician
William Ambrose	....	key rigging grip (as William G. Ambrose)
Greg Brooks	....	dolly grip
Bill Coe	....	first assistant camera (as William R. Coe)
Jose F. Cruz	....	key grip: second unit (as Jose Cruz)
James 'Spud' Danicic	....	ultimate arm technician
Buzz Feitshans IV	....	director of photography: second unit
Bob Field	....	gaffer: second unit (as Robert Field)
Steven A. Guerrero	....	dolly grip (as Steve Guerrero)
Coleman L. Hart	....	best boy grip (as Coleman Hart)
Lawrence Karman	....	Steadicam operator
Lawrence Karman	....	camera operator
Kevin Lang	....	rigging gaffer
Lorna Leslie	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Bobby McMahan	....	second assistant camera (as Robert A. McMahan)
Darren Michaels	....	still photographer
Emile Mocey-Hanton	....	best boy electric: second unit
Sean Hunter Moe	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Sean Moe)
Frank Montesanto	....	best boy grip: second unit
Chris Napolitano	....	chief lighting technician
Matthew A. Petrosky	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Robert A. Preston	....	key grip: second unit
David Schmalz	....	video assist operator (as Dave Schmalz)
Paul Schmidt	....	dolly grip: second unit
Michael Scott	....	camera operator: "a"camera, second unit
Walter 'Bud' Scott	....	key grip (as Walter Scott Jr.)
Randall Sears	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, second unit
Linda Slater	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Thomas Vandermillen	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit
Jeff Baker	....	grip (uncredited)
Dwayne Barr	....	dolly grip: second unit (uncredited)
Elisha Christian	....	grip: second unit (uncredited)
Michael DiGiovanni	....	grip (uncredited)
Guido Egger	....	grip (uncredited)
Ron Elliott	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Pete Escobar	....	rigging grip (uncredited)
Michael Fastoso	....	rigging grip (uncredited)
Peter N. Green	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera (uncredited)
Miles Gutkin	....	grip (uncredited)
Stephen MacDougall	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera (uncredited)
Greg Mazzola	....	grip (uncredited)
Johnny Medeiros	....	additional video assist operator (uncredited)
Jack Jay Reece	....	generator operator: second unit (uncredited)
Dale Robinette	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Michael J. Schwartz	....	electrician (uncredited)
Jedediah Shoemaker	....	rigging grip (uncredited)
Jeff Snyder	....	additional video assist operator (uncredited)
David Speck	....	camera production assistant (uncredited)
David Speck	....	second assistant camera: "c" camera (uncredited)
Jeff Stewart	....	camera loader (uncredited)
Neil Toussaint	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
Deron Tse	....	additional grip (uncredited)
Jeffery J. Tufano	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Chris Bustard	....	extras casting
Jennifer Ricchiazzi	....	casting associate
Paul Schnee	....	casting associate
Wendy Hoffman	....	adr voice casting (uncredited)
Jessica Kelly	....	casting assistant (uncredited)
Jeni Thornell	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Myron Baker	....	costumer
Phyllis Corcoran-Woods	....	costume supervisor
Lorraine Crossman	....	costumer
Brenda M. Ware	....	key costumer
Jill Korengold	....	additional costumer (uncredited)
Jill Korengold	....	costume shopper (uncredited)
Michelle Margolis	....	costumer (uncredited)
Steven Porch	....	costume ager/dyer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Nathan Bruner	....	apprentice editor
James Carretta	....	post-production assistant (as Jim Carretta)
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Tim Mirkovich	....	additional editor
Ray Neapolitan	....	assistant editor
Colin Patton	....	first assistant editor
Michael Underwood	....	digital colorist
Julia Nessling-Douglas	....	digital intermediate producer (uncredited)

Music Department
Peter Boyer	....	orchestrator
Mark Curry	....	scoring mixer
Dominik Hauser	....	orchestrator (as Dominic Hauser)
Jonathan Karp	....	music editor
Jonathan Karp	....	music supervisor
Graeme Revell	....	conductor
David E. Russo	....	synthesizer programmer (as David Russo)
Tim Simonec	....	orchestrator
Gina Zimmitti	....	music contractor
John O'Brien	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
John Orlebeck	....	transportation coordinator
Don Poole	....	transportation captain
Rupert Cole	....	transportation dispatcher (uncredited)
R. Blaine Currier	....	picture car coordinator (uncredited)
Kaleb Hauge	....	mechanic (uncredited)
Margo Hunt	....	driver (uncredited)
William R. Peck	....	driver (uncredited)
John F. Teeple	....	driver (uncredited)
Christopher Weippert	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Tarek Albaba	....	production assistant
Nancy Allan	....	assistant: Ms. Robertson
Carrie Arnold	....	assistant production coordinator
Matthew Bass	....	assistant: Mr. Rogen & Mr. Goldberg
Christine Bonnem	....	location manager
Ericka Bryce	....	medic (as Ericka Bryce Poniewaz)
Trisha Burton	....	script supervisor: second unit
Tom Carson	....	production coordinator
Tora Chung	....	assistant: Ms. Weintraub
Greg Cohen	....	assistant: Mr. Apatow
Ricky Cuevas	....	assistant accountant
Andrew Epstein	....	assistant: Mr. Apatow
Damiano Fusca	....	production assistant
Matthew J. Gannon	....	production assistant (as Matthew Gannon)
Jeffrey Garrett	....	assistant location manager
Justin Giugno	....	production secretary
Rebecca M. Graves	....	production assistant (as Rebecca Graves)
Nathan Kimball	....	production assistant
Kym Langlie	....	unit publicist
Joshua Locy	....	assistant: Mr. Green
Jonathan Lynch	....	assistant location manager
Rob Meisenholder	....	assistant accountant (as Robert Meisenholder)
Matt V. Messina	....	assistant location manager (as Matthew Messina)
Joseph A. Mileto	....	craft service (as Joseph Mileto)
Gunnar Moulton	....	production assistant (as Robert Gunnar Moulton)
Kate Pulley	....	assistant: Mr. Franco
Ronit Ravich-Boss	....	script supervisor
Johnny S. Renaudo II	....	post assistant accountant
Kathleen Rodriguez	....	production assistant
Jill Rosenblatt	....	production accountant
Shane Sankey	....	production assistant
Allison Schroeder	....	production assistant
Darius Shahmir	....	production assistant
Chance P. Tassone	....	craft service
Schuyler Telleen	....	production assistant
M. Ryan Traylor	....	production assistant
Lisa Yadavaia	....	assistant: Mr. Apatow
Natalie Alexander	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Steven W. Blumenfeld	....	video/computer playback engineer (uncredited)
Jody Braun	....	assistant: cast (uncredited)
Blaise Brooks	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Nicholas Brown	....	second assistant accountant (uncredited)
Meghan Burchfield	....	additional set production assistant (uncredited)
Jennifer Burdick-Baklarov	....	additional production assistant: second unit (uncredited)
Kerry Carter	....	production assistant: second unit (uncredited)
Pamella D'Pella	....	location scout (uncredited)
Eric R. Evans	....	additional set production assistant (uncredited)
Wayne Fielder	....	medic: second unit (uncredited)
Mark Hochman	....	24 frame video/computer playback (uncredited)
Ian Kay	....	armorer (uncredited)
John D. Kim	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Thomas Longo	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Allison Meadows	....	set production assistant (uncredited)
George Mims	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Brieann Rich	....	craft service (uncredited)
Michael Rich	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Robert Rizzolo	....	additional set production assistant (uncredited)
Chuck Rousseau	....	armorer (uncredited)
V.W. Scheich	....	production coordinator (uncredited)
Janine Schiro	....	second assistant accountant (uncredited)
Jordan Schmidt	....	assistant location manager (uncredited)
John Schwert	....	production assistance (uncredited)
Derek Wade	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Lisa Womble	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures (presents)
• Relativity Media (in association with)
• Apatow Productions (as Apatow Company)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• ACME (2008) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Sony Pictures Releasing (BVSPR) (2008) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Forum Cinemas (2008) (Estonia) (theatrical)
• Forum Cinemas (2008) (Latvia) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing Canada (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2008) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2008) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Norway (2008) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• LK-TEL (2009) (Argentina) (DVD) (unrated edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Norway) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (2-disc unrated special edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (unrated special edition)
• fX Network (2010) (USA) (TV)

Special Effects

• Almost Human (prosthetic make-up effects)
• Yard VFX (visual effects)
• Pacific Vision Productions (visual effects)
• Pacific Title and Art Studio (additional visual effects)
• Zoic Studios (additional visual effects)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• Gala Catering  catering
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Movie Movers  cast trailers
• Movie Movers  hair and make-up trailers
• On Tour Productions  grip and lighting equipment
• Paramount Transportation Services  transportation services
• Reel Security  security
• Reel Team, The  loop group
• Rockbottom Rentals  cell phone rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  junxion box rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  nextel cell phone rentals
• Scarlet Letters  main and end titles
• Sony Pictures Studios  sound post-production
• Star Waggons  cast trailers
• Star Waggons  hair and make-up trailers
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates  digital intermediate
• Transportation Resources  transportation equipment

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence.

Runtime:

111 min | USA:117 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese | Korean

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #43851) | Australia:MA | UK:15 (cut theatrical version) | Finland:K-15 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:16 (cut theatrical version) | Singapore:M18 (cut) | New Zealand:R16 | UK:18 (uncut DVD version) | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:16 | South Africa:16LV | Sweden:15 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Peru:18 | Italy:VM14 | Malaysia:(Banned) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Iceland:16 (theatrical rating) | France:U | Brazil:18 | Germany:16 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The word "fuck" and its derivatives are said 180 times.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Dale and Saul are beating up Red in his house, Red's cold sore first appears, then disappears, then appears again.

Quotes:

Robert: [at dinner, after Dale told everyone he witnessed a murder] Angie, I swear, you do something or I'm gonna...
Dale Denton: What? No! No, don't let him gonna! No, don't wanna!

Movie Connections:

References Predator (1987)

Soundtrack:

Don't Look Around

Vibrant, hilarious mesh of genres, and a different sort of film for David Gordon Green

There will be many who will dismiss "Pineapple Express" as immature, overly silly, disjointed, and scatter-shot. There will be others who recognize it as a bizarrely artful, playful, loose genre-bending comedy with some outstanding performances, an inspired comedy script, and some great work from director David Gordon Green, certainly one of the finest young directors around.

The latter group is correct. "Pineapple Express" is, as a whole, the best movie the Apatow clan has produced yet. David Gordon Green is unquestionably the best director to direct one of these movies, but this is also a very different sort of movie than the films he usually directs. Does he rise to the challenge? He certainly does. I never would have believed that he was capable of directing such exciting and fun action scenes, or keep the movie's tone steady despite the different elements it consists of being so wildly disparate, but somehow he pulls it off. No other stoner movie can claim to be as artful and well-directed as this film.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's much-anticipated follow-up to "Superbad" is an excellent screenplay, but expect none of the realism and resonance of that film; "Pineapple Express" is all about the laughs, and the laughs are certainly here, and they are practically non-stop, with just about every scene featuring some great dialogue, acting, or the sort of incredible sight gag this movie does so well. This is just great comedy throughout.

In addition to David Gordon Green's excellent work as director, the film is technically superb. The soundtrack and use of music is brilliant, and frequent Gordon Green collaborator Tim Orr's cinematography is consistently great.

"Pineapple Express" will be an inherently divisive film. It didn't get the sort of critical accolades many previous Apatow clan movies did, and I expect audiences will also be a little less unanimous. Indeed, there's little of the critic-pleasing dramatic scenes Apatow's comedies have been praised for, and even when they do pop up they're usually deflated instantly with a joke, and credit has to go to director David Gordon Green for his expert handling of the film's tone, which never becomes schmaltzy, thank the heavens. Really, the whole film is throughly enjoyable except for the very last scene in the film, which contains one of the film's best jokes, but is really hard to buy given the state the characters are in, and also more than a little forced. Aside from that moment the whole thing works beautifully, quite astounding given the mesh of many different genres and sorts of comedy that this is. You either go with this movies sense of humor or you don't, and I imagine more people will enjoy the first three quarters of the movie, before the big, long action scene happens, and lots and lots of violence occurs. I guess you have to have a somewhat morbid sense of humor to laugh at ALL of the jokes in the film, but so what? There are also some nice little tongue-in-cheek references to the film's influences ("they messed with the wrong melon farmers").

The cast really give it their all. It was great to see James Franco back in a comedic role, and his performance steals the show. Rogen is good as usual, Gary Cole is a perfect villain, and it's nice to see the gorgeous and talented Amber Heard finally make a quality film (and get one of the film's funniest scenes as her character's final scene). The supporting cast are also all good in their roles.

There are a lot of reasons why "Pineapple Express" won't work for many people, and they will probably end up being the very reasons the film works for those who like it. The film's plot is inherently silly to an extent (although this is nowhere near the "Anchorman" style of comedy), and one must be prepared for an outright comedy and not something in the vein of "Knocked Up". "Pineapple Express" may end up being more enjoyable for stoners and those with friends who are stoners, but it works on its own as great comedy because the humor has much more range and scope than just marijuana. One of the best comedies in years.

9/10