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Pineapple Express (film)

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Pineapple Express
File:Pineapple express.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed byDavid Gordon Green
Written byScreenplay:
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Story:
Judd Apatow
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Produced byJudd Apatow
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Shauna Robertson
StarringSeth Rogen
James Franco
Gary Cole
Rosie Perez
Danny R. McBride
Amber Heard
Craig Robinson
Kevin Corrigan
Ed Begley Jr.
Nora Dunn
CinematographyTim Orr
Edited byCraig Alpert
Music byGraeme Revell
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
August 6, 2008
Running time
111 min.[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$27 million[2]
Box office$80.83 million[2]

Pineapple Express is a 2008 action comedy stoner film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and stars Seth Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story, which was partially inspired by the buddy comedy subgenre. The film was originally set for release August 8, 2008, but was changed to August 6, 2008, in order not to conflict with the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics[citation needed]. The movie is rated R in the United States for strong language and mild drug content, MA 15+ in Australia for Strong drug use and violence, sexual references and coarse language, and 18A in Canada.

Plot

The film starts off in 1937 in a secret underground government laboratory where tests are being performed on the effects of marijuana. Private Miller (Bill Hader) is a subject in a test to decide if marijuana should be illegal. Miller, obviously high, begins to insult the government and his superiors. As a result, the government deems marijuana illegal and quickly "disposes of" Private Miller.

Jumping to the present, Dale Denton (Rogen), a 25 year-old process serving stoner, visits his girlfriend Angie (Amber Heard) at her high school and argues about accepting an invitation to eat dinner with her family. Next, he visits his equally stoned dealer, Saul Silver (Franco), to purchase cannabis. Saul offers him a rare and potent strain of marijuana called Pineapple Express alleged to be “the dopest dope [you]’ve ever smoked". After making his purchase, Dale agrees to smoke a 'cross-shaped' joint with Saul before leaving. He then leaves his apartment, smokes more, and ends up in front of the house of the next person he is supposed to serve, Ted Jones (Gary Cole), who Saul has mentioned as a drug lord.

While waiting outside in his car smoking a joint made of Pineapple Express, Dale witnesses Ted and a crooked police officer, Carol Brazier (Rosie Perez) commit murder. As Dale panics, he throws his roach out the window and leaves the scene, while hitting two parked cars in the process (one being Brazier's police cruiser). As Ted and Officer Brazier run outside to find Dale driving away, they determine that he saw the murder and are able to classify the roach he threw out the window as the rare Pineapple Express. Dale drives back to Saul's in a panic to ask Saul about Ted and eventually concludes that he could be traced back to Saul by the rare Pineapple Express (Saul is the only dealer who has it, and Ted is the only supplier). Dale and Saul leave the apartment. Meanwhile, Ted is determined to catch the witness of the murder so he dispatches his two henchmen, Matheson (Craig Robinson) and Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan), so that they could find and dispose Dale and Saul.

The henchmen call Saul's middleman, Red (Danny R. McBride) and try to arrange a meeting between Red and Saul, which subsequently fails because Dale and Saul spend the night in the woods. With just the Pineapple Express with them, Dale and Saul head over to Red's apartment where a fight eventually breaks out between the three of them. Dale and Saul are now convinced that the henchmen came to the house and that they must leave the city. Because the henchmen could not kill Dale or Saul, Ted believes that the rival drug gang, led by the "Asians" have hired Dale as a hitman, and Ted goes to war with the Asians.

With no money to buy bus tickets, Dale and Saul (at Dale's suggestion) sell some of the Pineapple Express to some school kids. Saul goes off to buy food and Dale stays behind and smokes more; however, the school's police officer catches him for selling the marijuana to the kids. Upon checking Dale's ID check, a warrant shows up for the earlier hit-and-run (ostensibly orchestrated by Officer Brazier) and he is arrested. Dale tells the female officer about the murder he witnessed and she actually believes him and wants to help. As they drive off, Saul jumps in front of and is hit by the police car, splattering the windshield with a red slushee he was drinking. The cop gets out to investigate while Saul sneaks into the police cruiser and drives off. Officer Brazier arrives in her car shortly thereafter. A high-speed chase ensues, and Dale and Saul successfully evade her.

Once again, Dale and Saul have a disagreement, with Dale telling Saul he is not his friend, just his drug dealer. Saul takes it really hard and leaves Dale to go to his grandmother's assisted living home. Budlofsky and Matheson are there looking for him, and kidnap and take him hostage to Ted's Pineapple Express grow house (which happens to be the underground base from the beginning of the film, disguised beneath an empty barn); while failing at escaping the two, Saul winds up scarring Matheson's face by hitting him with a scalding hot pot of coffee, infuriating Matheson who swears to eliminate Saul personally.

Dale has a revelation and, with Red, decides to break Saul out of the grow house, but Red backs out at the last minute, which results in Dale being held captive. At the same time, the Asians break in and start shooting everyone and a gun-battle ensues. Dale and Saul manage to free themselves despite Matheson, whom they manage to subdue by shooting him in the shoulder, hearing their plans through the thin walls of their holding cell. Saul escapes through an insulation pipe while Dale fights with Ted. Saul re-enters the barn with a gun yelling, "Fuck the Police" but shoots wildly, completely missing his intended target, Carol. The two engage in hand-to-hand combat which results in Saul defeating Carol but being cornered at gunpoint by Matheson, who has already killed Budlofsky for trying to bail during the shootout, which is alluded to earlier by Matheson's disgust toward his colleague for being only concerned about himself and no one else. Red suddenly crashes through the barn in his car and saves Saul, and the two reconcile. However Red is then shot multiple times by Carol (making this the fifth time he is shot in the movie) and is presumed dead. Meanwhile, the last surviving Asian has made it into the underground grow house with a bomb, which he throws down at Ted and Dale. Ted is killed when his body ricochets off a cement wall from the explosion which roasts him, while Dale manages to survive the explosion by taking shelter in a dumpster. The fireball throws Red's car onto Officer Brazier, which kills her but knocks out Saul. With Saul unconscious, Dale carries him out of the barn just before it explodes.

Seconds after the explosion, Red surprisingly crawls out alive and the three go off to a diner and reminisce about the events of the previous day (mentioning the car chase and the fact that Red has lost a lot of blood and should probably see a doctor), as if it were just a crazy night out. They rekindle their friendship and leave to catch a ride with Saul's grandmother. Then the credits roll.

Cast

Actor/Actress Role Notes
Seth Rogen Dale Denton
James Franco Saul Silver
Gary Cole Ted Jones
Rosie Perez Officer Carol Brazier
Danny R. McBride Red Saul's middleman
Amber Heard Angie Anderson Dale's girlfriend
Craig Robinson Matheson Ted's henchmen
Kevin Corrigan Budlofsky
Ed Begley, Jr. Robert Anderson Angie's parents
Nora Dunn Shannon Anderson
Bill Hader Private Greg B. Miller
James Remar General Brat
Joe Lo Truglio Mr. Edwards
Ken Jeong Ken
Bobby Lee Bobby

Production

The source of inspiration for making Pineapple Express, according to producer Judd Apatow, was Brad Pitt's character in True Romance (1993), a stoner named Floyd. Apatow "thought it would be funny to make a movie in which you follow that character out of his apartment and watch him get chased by bad guys".[3] According to Rogen, the ideal production budget was $40 million, but due to the subject matter—"because it's a weed movie", as he put it—Sony Pictures allotted $25 million.[4]

David Gordon Green met with Apatow, Rogen and Goldberg on the set of Knocked Up, and later on the set of Superbad to discuss the project.[5] Gordon cited The Blues Brothers, Midnight Run, Running Scared, and Stir Crazy as sources of inspiration and influence on directing the film.[5]

Rogen was originally going to play the "stoner buddy" character of Saul Silver, but Apatow suggested that Franco should play Saul. After a table read, Rogen agreed, thus casting himself in the role of Dale Denton.[6]

Seth Rogen spoke with musician Huey Lewis, of Huey Lewis and the News, on writing and performing the film's theme song in November 2007.[7]

There was an exclusive sneak peek of the film attached to the Superbad DVD, which was released on December 4, 2007.

Release and reception

The film has received generally positive reviews from critics with a rating of 68% on the review website Rotten Tomatoes. A "red-band" trailer for the film, featuring the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A.,[8] leaked in February 2008.[9] Sony Pictures had the video removed from YouTube within a week of its posting.[10] Patrick Goldstein's Summer Movie Posse of the LA Times described its incorporation as "the most impressive use of M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes' ever."[11] Pineapple Express had an advance screening at the Just for Laughs Film Festival on July 19, 2008.[12] The film was released on August 6, 2008.[13] Cable network FX pre-bought the rights to broadcast the film.

Box office performance

The film grossed $23.2 million on its opening weekend. As of September 1, 2008, the film grossed $80.83 million in North America.[2]

Controversy

On August 5, 2008, Brooklyn T-shirt designers Wowch, claim that the T-shirt James Franco wears throughout the entire movie and on the promotional ads, is based on a 2005 T-Shirt design they created for sale at Urban Outfitters.[14] In several interviews, actor James Franco credits the design of the T-shirt (featuring a cat resting in the open mouth of a shark) to director David Gordon Green.[15][16] Stating that the director wanted him to wear a Monterey Bay brand shirt featuring a whale, but instead created an original design of a cat resting in the mouth of a shark.

Soundtrack

The original motion picture soundtrack to the film was released on August 5, 2008.[17] Although featured in the trailer for the film,[18] the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. does not appear on the soundtrack or in the movie.

Track listing

  1. "Pineapple Express" by Huey Lewis and the News (4:27)
  2. "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant (3:48)
  3. "Dr. Greenthumb" by Cypress Hill (3:08)
  4. "Lost at Birth" by Public Enemy (3:33)
  5. "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe (4:20)
  6. "Wanted Dread and Alive" by Peter Tosh (4:22)
  7. "Don't Look Around" by Mountain (3:44)
  8. "Pineapple Chase (aka The Reprise of the Phoenix)" by Graeme Revell (3:03)
  9. "Bird's Lament" by Moondog & The London Saxophonic (2:02)
  10. "Coconut Girl" by Brother Noland (3:36)
  11. "Hilawe" by Arthur Lyman (1:09)
  12. "Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (3:45)
  13. "Pineapple Fight" (aka The Nemesis Proclaimed)" by Graeme Revell (3:08)
  14. "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You" by Spiritualized (5:12)
  15. "Woke Up Laughing" by Robert Palmer (3:35)

References

  1. ^ "Pineapple Express at BBFC". British Board of Film Classification. 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Box Office Mojo entry". Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  3. ^ Benjamin Svetkey (2008-04-18). "'Pineapple Express': High hopes for James Franco". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  4. ^ Shirley Halperin (2008-04-11). "Marijuana Movies: Riding High In Hollywood?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  5. ^ a b Edward Douglas (2008-08-04). "Exclusive: Pineapple Express's David Gordon Green". comingsoon.net. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  6. ^ Eric Goldman (2008-03-18). "Judd Apatow: From Freaks and Geeks to Sarah Marshall and Beyond". IGN.com. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  7. ^ Shirley Halperin (2007-11-26). "Seth Rogen inviting Huey Lewis aboard 'Pineapple Express'?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  8. ^ Jonathan Foerster (2008-06-12). "We've got the soundtrack to your summer". Naples Daily News. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  9. ^ Nicole Sperling (2008-02-13). "And the red-band played on... or not". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  10. ^ Nicole Sperling (2008-02-14). "Smoke up, Seth Rogen: 'Pineapple Express' red-band trailer is finally online". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  11. ^ Patrick Goldstein (2008-04-29). "Summer Movie Posse gives its thumbs up....and down". LA Times. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  12. ^ Brendan Kelly, Daniel Frankel (2008-06-17). "'Pineapple' opens comedy festival". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  13. ^ Ian Mohr (2007-06-05). "Apatow, Rogen set 'Pineapple' date". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  14. ^ Hamilton Nolan (2008-08-05). "Pineapple Express: Did Pineapple Express Steal this Shirt?". Gawker.com. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  15. ^ Sea Evans (2008-08-07). "No, James Franco didn't steal that T-shirt idea". NY Daily News Online. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  16. ^ Emily Christianson (2008-07-30). "'Pineapple Express': On the Set with James Franco". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  17. ^ Pineapple Express (Soundtrack), Amazon.com
  18. ^ Leslie Williams (2008-05-14). "Leslie Williams: Selecting summer music, films". The Orion Online. Retrieved 2008-07-22.

External links

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