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</script></div>{/googleAds}Pineapple : a tropical American plant bearing a large fleshy edible fruit with a terminal tuft of stiff leaves; widely cultivated in the tropics

Express: without unnecessary stops; "an express train"; "an express shipment"

The two words and their definitions seem unrelated, but magic happens when you put them together in a movie that manages to channel the high times of Cheech and Chong alongside the action movies of the 1980's. Yes, David Gordon Green's Pineapple Express does this... and it does it well.

Pineapple ExpressWritten by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (the talents behind Superbad and Drillbit Taylor) and produced by Judd Apatow, Pineapple Express is a welcome continuation of the type of world these talents have previously created for audiences of all ages. The film stars Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), James Franco (Spider-Man), and Danny McBride (The Foot Fist Way) and chronicles their attempts to escape the clutches of Gary Cole (Office Space) and Rosie Perez (Fearless) after Rogen witnesses a murder committed by Cole.

The magic in this film is the deadly combination of Rogen and Franco, who previously worked together in Apatow's beloved Freaks and Geeks. Rogen plays it fairly straight this time think his Knocked Up character a little more stoned - and this allows Franco to truly shine. Franco is a masterpiece in this film. Really. He hasn't been this good on film since his Freaks and Geeks days. Quite simply, Franco is the heart of the film. There isn't a line of dialogue wasted on his character. You will laugh at the simplest of lines based solely on his delivery of them.

I mentioned earlier that this was an action film and I wasn't kidding. Specifically, there's a scene in the movie where Franco leads Rogen to his dealer's house (McBride) and a fight ensues that rivals the house destroying in the opening of Tarantino's Kill Bill between Uma Thurman and Vivica Fox. The fight in Pineapple Express is choreographed so well that it feels natural and sporadic and completely unplanned. Seriously. It will also make you laugh and squirm all at the same time.

The beginning of the film features a hilarious cameo from Bill Hader and is shot in a stylistic homage to the black and white era of film and as a reference to the drug-fueled insanity of the classic Reefer Madness, but also re-introduces the audience to the rules or lack thereof in a stoner film. The opening also pays off well at the film's climax solidifying its purpose in the film.

For those in need of a great natural high, Pineapple Express is the ride to catch.


Component Grades
Movie
DVD
4 stars
5 Stars
DVD Experience
4.5 stars

DVD

DVD Details:

Pineapple Express (Unrated + BD Live) [Blu-ray]

Screen Formats: 2.40:1

Subtitles: Mandarin, English, French, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

Language and Sound: Closed Captioned; Language and Sound:; English: Dolby Digital 5.1; French-Canadian: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1; Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1

Other Features: Color; interactive 4 starss; scene access; audio commentary; deleted & extended scenes; gag reel.

* Commentary
o Feature-length commentary track with the cast and directors including Director David Gordon Green, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Ed Begley Jr., and Rosie Perez
* Featurettes
o "Behind-the-Scenes"
o "The Making of"
o Raw and rehearsal footage
o Cast and crew making-of featurette
o The Action of Pineapple Express
o Behind-the-scenes look at several stunts
o Phone Booth
o Line-O-Rama
o Direct-O-Rama
o Item 9 Experiments
o Saul's Apartment
o Begley's Best
o Red and Jessica's Guide to Marriage
o Injury Report
o Comic-Con Panel
* Deleted Scenes - Deleted, alternate and extended scenes,
* Gag Reel - featuring David Gordon Green directing and taunting the cast from behind the camera featuring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez and Craig Robinson
* Previews - Red-band theatrical trailer

Number of Discs: 2 with Keepcase Packaging Plus digital copy of the film.

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