Pineapple Express (2008)
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A process server and his marijuana dealer must flee from hitmen after witnessing a murder.
The story
Process server and marijuana enthusiast Dale Denton visits his drug dealer Saul Silver, with whom Dale smokes the rare Pineapple Express strain before resuming work. Arriving at the home of local drug lord Ted Jones, Dale witnesses Ted and corrupt police officer Carol Brazier shoot a rival Korean gangster. While fleeing the scene, Dale causes a commotion and throws his roach containing Pineapple Express. Ted identifies the strain and sends his henchmen Budlofsky and Matheson to a drug dealer named Red, who tells them about Saul. At Saul's apartment, Dale worries that Ted could trace the roach, before Dale and Saul decide they must flee the city.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After witnessing a murder, process server Dale Denton and his dealer Saul Silver flee the city to escape the drug lord Ted Jones. They encounter Red, a hotheaded supplier, who reveals that Ted knows who they are and intends to kill them. After a series of narrow escapes involving a high-speed police chase and a visit to Dale's girlfriend's home, the duo splits up, leading to Saul's kidnapping by Ted's henchmen. Dale eventually enlists an injured Red to help rescue Saul. During a final confrontation at Ted's lair, a brawl and shootout ensues between the henchmen and a rival Korean gang. In the chaos, the henchmen are killed, and a bomb set off by the Korean gang destroys the lair, killing Ted and the corrupt officer Brazier. Dale carries Saul out of the burning building, and they eventually reconcile with Red. The film ends with the trio sharing breakfast at a diner before being taken to the hospital.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Gordon Green
- Writers
- Seth Rogen · screenplay; Evan Goldberg · screenplay; Judd Apatow · story; Seth Rogen · story; Evan Goldberg · story
- Cast and characters
- Seth Rogen · Dale Denton; James Franco · Saul Silver; Gary Cole · Ted Jones; Rosie Perez · Carol Brazier; Danny McBride · Red; Kevin Corrigan · Budlofsky; Craig Robinson · Matheson; Ken Jeong · Ken
- Genres
- action comedy; stoner comedy; buddy comedy; black comedy; crime comedy
- Themes
- friendship; survival; drug culture
- Tone and mood
- funny; scattershot; lowball laughs
- Premise and plot tags
- stoner; action; buddy comedy; crime; murder
- Source material / true-story basis
- Brad Pitt's character in the 1993 film True Romance, a stoner named Floyd
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $102.4 million worldwide on a $26 million budget and has since developed a cult following. It received generally favorable reviews, with a weighted average score of 64 on Metacritic and a 'B+' on CinemaScore.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 64 · scale: 100 · review count: 37
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe Award · Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film inspired the name for a real cannabis strain called Pineapple Express.; The film's cinematography was almost universally praised.; The film's inspiration was Brad Pitt's character in True Romance.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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