Bro-mance anyone?

Just got out of the Pineapple Express premiere and I have good news…it’s hilarious. In fact, I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in a comedy for a long, long time. I can’t even remember the last time I went to a comedy at the movies and genuinely laughed the whole way through! How sad! Oh how I’ve desperately wanted to laugh but there’s been so many shit comedies lately my funny bone has remained untickled. Until tonight that is. Notably the Pineapple Express trailer was good but so was the You Don’t Mess With The Zohan trailer and we all know what a craptastic movie that was. The Pineapple Express explores the depths of a dealer buyer relationship between Saul Silver (James Franco) and Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) when the two go on the run after Denton witnesses a murder. Hilarity ensues. Yeah, okay, so there’s more to the plot than outlined above but I’m not going to wreck the rest of the movie for you, just go see it.

What’s the verdict you ask? I loved it. I loved it so much I got many a stare during the screening because my elmo-esque laugh stands out, especially in a cinema when no one else is laughing at that point. Admittedly if you’re not a fan of Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s style of comedy (i.e 40-year-old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and a slice of Forgetting Sarah Marshall) then this probably won’t appeal to you. Like a lot of the comedy trio’s other films, this one explores the notion of bro-mance and how decent mates essentially can’t live without each other. Also, if you can’t handle stoner jokes then avoid. To the remaining 99% of the population jump on the Pineapple Express because it’s heading direct to awesome-town. It’s common knowledge Franco and Rogen have stayed bosom buddies since their days on 90s comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks and they use their real life mateship perfectly to bounce off each others performance. In the end, it’s Franco who shines. More known in Hollywood for his `total hotness’ and dramatic roles (personal favs include Spiderman1,2, 3 and Tristain&Isolde) Franco is SO good at comedy and plays this role SO perfectly you’ll forget he’s acting. Pineapple Express pays homage to the action-comedies of the 70s and 80s which is a bold move for Apatow and the team, especially considering how god awful that could have gone. Somehow the combination of action, comedy and signature Apatow/Rogen style (I’ll call it Apagen) come together like hot fudge toping on a sundae, if you were that way inclined.

My consensus: thank-freaking-halleluiah for the Pineapple Express because I was beginning to lose my faith in comedies, high fives all round y’all. Go see it. Honestly though, I don’t think I can wait this long between decent comedies, it’s just too much to bear.

Fav part: (Franco runs in, slow mo) Fuck the po-lice!

Stay tuned for Stop Loss review faithful readers . . . .