Morning:
10°c
Pineapple Express: More bad than super
Updated 01:06am on 12 Sep 2008
Pineapple Express (15)
The most hyped Hollywood product of the week is Pineapple Express, a stoner comedy from the makers of Superbad.
It's about a couple of amiable, drug-addled idiots (Seth Rogen as a slacker and James Franco as a pusher) who fall foul of a drugs kingpin (Gary Cole) and a corrupt cop (Rosie Perez).
I can't say I warmed to the couple of oafish anti-heroes who saw no problem with selling drugs to children. They may have wanted to bond with each other, but I certainly didn't bond with them.
Hide-out and shoot-out galore in Pineapple Express
Though there are funny one-liners early on, the script becomes increasingly lazy, while the violence which takes over the second half feels as if it belongs to a different picture.
In Eden Lake, violence is seen as nasty and disturbing; here, it's trivialised and becomes simply moronic entertainment. It's the kind of brutalism the yobs in Eden Lake would find hilarious, and for that reason Pineapple Express will be the week's biggest hit.
That, however, is not a recommendation.
Verdict: Yet another gross American comedy
