saw: pineapple express
At this point reefer-movie madness is suitably pandemic that it may be time to reconsider the meaning of the term potboiler. Pineapple Express nevertheless manages to feel fresh and funny for the majority of its running time. The story's coked-up weedy rhythms cross-pollinate the verisimilitude of Out of Sight with the manic intensity of the first Kill Bill, with Seth Rogen and James Franco sustaining a believable, dewy dude-on-dude chemistry that mostly sidesteps the more predictable gay-panic tropes (with one gratuitous exception). If anything belies the loose anything-goes sensibility, it's that some of the exchanges, while still uproarious, have a slightly worked-over sketch-comedy feel. Still, a laugh's a laugh, especially in the heat of August. Grade: B+