Pineapple Express
3 Waffles!

It’s hard to be funny and dumb without annoying the audience, but these guys have got that ability to make us laugh without totally insulting the audience’s intelligence.

Seth Rogan stars as Dale Denton – a process server who likes to smoke the wacky tobacky to make the day go by a little quicker. Saul Silver (James Franco) is his fun loving dealer who tries a bit too hard to be his friend, but, Saul has the good stuff, so Dale keeps going back for more.

One day, Saul sells Dale a special, hard to find type of ganja called Pineapple Express, which Dale decides to enjoy while on his way to serve some papers to a big time crime lord, Ted Jones (Gray Cole), who happens to be the supplier of the Pineapple Express in this town. When Dale sees Ted and a police officer, Carol (Rosie Perez), shoot a major player in a rival crime syndicate, he gets scared, drops his fatty, and looks to run away as fast as possible. Of course, Ted sees that someone has witnessed the crime, and recognizes his product, which was thrown on the ground, so he’s off to capture Dale and Saul before they squeal.

Will Dale and Saul get away?

Are they too stoned to survive?

I almost think Pineapple Express is a beneficiary of low expectations. Every commercial and trailer I saw made me think this was going to be the biggest bomb since The Love Guru. Yet, it was a pleasant surprise as I laughed at the outrageous Cheech and Chong (or Harold and Kumar for you younger folks) adventure Dale and Saul involuntarily embark upon complete with silly physical humor and two guys under the influence not able to comprehend what is happening around them.

Franco is hilarious with his take on the dealer who loves his product and customers a little too much. Writers Evan Goldberg and Rogan give Franco all of the best jokes, oddball remarks and references, while he lets the goofiness shine through without embarrassment or holding back in any way. Like everyone in the movie, his character is somewhat of a moron, and he relishes it, but you get the feeling he isn’t dumb.

Rogan is a perfect co-star with Franco as the two bicker, get overly emotional and engage in some of the funniest, most awkward fight scenes in movies, while Danny McBride bounces back from Foot Fist Way to remind us how funny he can be (and wait until you see him in Tropic Thunder), and Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office) continues to be more memorable than he should be in every small role he plays in every TV show or movie (let this man take the lead and be a star!).

Goldberg and Rogan don’t quite reach the level of their instant classic hit Superbad, but this is much better than what some people want to call comedy these days, if you aren’t offended by the rampant use of illegal narcotics and their sale.

Pineapple Express is rated R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence.