Pineapple Express (2008)

Seth Rogen calling Joe Lo Truglio a "chimp fucking little weirdo." That's it. That's the review. You can go home. Except you shouldn't, because there's so much more where that came from, and Pineapple Express might genuinely be one of the funniest films ever made.

I don't throw that around lightly. I love comedy. I've sat through the greats, the classics, the ones people point to when they want to win arguments. And this one sits right up there at the top for me, alongside Superbad, as the pinnacle of what a comedy can be. It's not just funny in the way that makes you smile or exhale through your nose. It's funny in the way that makes you rewind, pause, compose yourself, and press play again. The kind of funny that makes your sides ache and your eyes water and your mates look at you like you've lost the plot.

What makes it work so well is that underneath all the chaos, it's a genuine story about friendship. Specifically, the very particular friendship between a weed dealer and his regular customer. That relationship has its own rules, its own rhythms, its own strange intimacy, and this film captures it better than anything else I've ever seen. There's real warmth between Rogen and James Franco here. Franco especially is operating on a completely different comic frequency, all loose-limbed and sweetly oblivious, and the two of them together feel completely lived-in. You believe these guys. You root for them. Even when everything is going spectacularly, catastrophically wrong.

And it does go wrong, brilliantly and violently wrong. The film commits to its action sequences in a way that catches you off guard. This isn't a spoof of action films, it actually becomes one, and it earns it. There's a rawness to some of the set pieces that reminds you David Gordon Green was directing, not just messing about. The film earns its bruises.

But back to the comedy, because that's the heart of it. The script is genuinely, consistently, outrageously funny. Every character gets their moment. The villains are hilarious. The supporting cast is stacked. And that Joe Lo Truglio scene, I'm not going to over-explain it because that would be criminal, but it hit me so hard the first time I watched it that I had to pause the film. Absolute gold. The kind of line reading you remember for years.

The soundtrack deserves a mention too, because it's an absolute banger from start to finish. It fits the film's energy perfectly, loose and warm and a little bit euphoric, which is exactly the vibe the whole thing is going for.

If you've seen Knocked Up and loved that particular brand of Rogen-era comedy, Pineapple Express is the next logical step, slightly more unhinged, a bit more violent, and somehow even funnier. This is Rogen and his collaborators absolutely at the top of their game, making exactly the film they wanted to make with zero compromise, and it shows in every frame.

I watch a lot of comedies. I love the genre. And this one has never, not once, failed to make me laugh. Four stars, and honestly it's pushing for more on the right evening with the right crowd.

Rating: ★★★★  | Year: 2008  | Watched: 2025-04-13

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: fuboTV · Peacock Premium · Peacock Premium Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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Related on Movies With Macca

More with Seth Rogen: Paul (2011) · Knocked Up (2007)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)