Matinee Melee: Drugs, violence lead to laughs

Casey Phillips: Going into “Pineapple Express,” I was under the impression I was about to watch the “ultimate stoner movie.” “Pineapple Express” certainly wasn’t that, but it obviously wasn’t trying to be, which ultimately saves it from failure. Rather than have his lead characters, Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) and Denton’s pot dealer, Saul Silver (James Franco), stumbling about hallucinating about flying dogs a la “Half Baked,” writer Judd Apatow opted to make drug use a central element of his comedic thriller rather than the focus. In fact, the treatment of that drug use is fairly tame, consisting mostly of frequent drags, the occasional paranoid reaction and a persistent case of the munchies.

Ultimately, I think the reason to see this film is the great buddy dynamic created between Rogen and Franco, who has finally managed to climb out of the serious, troubled-character pigeonhole he’s been in since playing Harry Osborn in “Spider-Man.” Franco’s performance as a lovable, clueless slacker prove he’s a more diversely talented actor than films like “Annapolis” and “Tristan + Isolde” might suggest.

Holly Leber: I definitely enjoyed seeing Franco depart from his typically brooding, pretty-boy roles. Too bad he’s scheduled to take a step back later this summer in Nicholas Sparks’ “Nights in Rodanthe.” He’s actually funny. It would be nice to see him involved in more comedies.

Judd Apatow has gotten his name on a number of comedies in the past several years, in a number of capacities, and I think his touch is hit-or-miss. I wouldn’t call “Pineapple Express” a hit, but compared to the still-in-theaters “Step Brothers,” it’s “Mighty Aphrodite.”

“Pineapple” is no clean-cut comedy; besides the stoner plot, there are plenty of off-color lines and references, but somehow it’s kept in check just enough to keep the film from crossing over into crass or vulgar.

Casey: I agree that Apatow’s approach is a little finer on this film than “Brothers,” but I don’t think crassness would have bothered me as much in “Pineapple.” One aspect of the movie that was jarring, however, was the identity crisis it suffers. For the final half hour, the film basically consists of a surprisingly violent gun battle in and around an underground marijuana farm. It’s like Apatow was watching “Dazed and Confused” while using picture-in-picture to take notes from “Die Hard” while writing the script.

These action sequences feel especially out of character when compared to an earlier, lighthearted fight scene between Dale, Saul and a drug dealer named Red (Danny R. McBride). I’m not squeamish at all about these things, but the violence seemed way out of place. It messed with the movie’s otherwise excellent pacing and comedic overtone.

Holly: It wasn’t the presence of the violence itself that bothered me; it was the fact that the brawl scenes lasted for an inordinately long time. I had to wonder if they just ran out of words and needed to pad for time by having the majority of the cast bludgeoning one another for 30 minutes.

I would have liked to have seen more of Connie Sawyer, who made a brief appearance as Franco’s character’s grandmother — he seemed more loathe to disappoint her than to get himself shot or arrested. I’ve got a soft spot for sassy old ladies (on which note, moment of silence for the recently departed Estelle Getty).

Comedically, my criticism of “Pineapple Express” was that it delved too much into homophobic humor, not so much to be blatantly offensive (at least, to me), but enough to give the message of “we think this type of behavior is just a bit strange.” Just a precaution.

Casey: Personally, I didn’t notice any homophobic humor, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention. I’m convinced fans of Judd Apatow’s work are going to see “Pineapple Express,” but I think more people should give it a chance. Despite the jarring ending and the attention it’s received for its focus on drug culture, I found it to be a raucous, frenetically entertaining movie with plenty of tremendously funny moments.

Holly: Overall, I’d call this a pretty good movie, knocked down a peg or two because of the excessive violence at the end. It worked better in its caper state. But I look forward to what both leads have coming up: Rogen will star in Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” and following another weepy turn as Richard Gere’s son in “Rodanthe,” Franco will appear in “Milk,” starring Sean Penn, who played one of the classic stoners of our generation, Spicoli of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

Aloha.