Dale Denton (Seth Rogan) is a slacker. He appreciates his job as a process server because it gives him plenty of time to smoke marijuana. His dream is to be a radio talk show host, and he frequently calls into talk shows to talk about how marijuana should be legal. He also is dating a high school senior, Angie (Amber Heard). She wants him to meet her parents but he is afraid to.After a small fight with Angie, Dale visits his dealer, Saul (James Franco). Saul sells him a special blend that only he has, Pineapple Express. Saul has aspirations of being a civil engineer and claims to sell marijuana only to pay the rent at his grandmothers expensive nursing home. Saul would like to be friends with Dale, which Dale is uncomfortable with.Dale goes to serve a subpoena on Ted Jones (Gary Cole). As he sits in his car, smoking some Pineapple Express, he ... [more]

Dale Denton (Seth Rogan) is a slacker. He appreciates his job as a process server because it gives him plenty of time to smoke marijuana. His dream is to be a radio talk show host, and he frequently calls into talk shows to talk about how marijuana should be legal. He also is dating a high school senior, Angie (Amber Heard). She wants him to meet her parents but he is afraid to.After a small fight with Angie, Dale visits his dealer, Saul (James Franco). Saul sells him a special blend that only he has, Pineapple Express. Saul has aspirations of being a civil engineer and claims to sell marijuana only to pay the rent at his grandmothers expensive nursing home. Saul would like to be friends with Dale, which Dale is uncomfortable with.Dale goes to serve a subpoena on Ted Jones (Gary Cole). As he sits in his car, smoking some Pineapple Express, he witnesses Ted and a corrupt policewoman, Carol (Rosie Perez), kill an Asian man. Panicking, Dale leaves his roach at the scene and smashes into parked cars as he drives away. Ted finds the roach and recognizes the marijuana as Pineapple Express. Dale goes back to Sauls pad, realizing that the marijuana could be traced back to him. They decide to hide: Saul suggests nowhere and Quiznos as potential hiding spots but they decide on the woods instead. They call Sauls middle man, Red (Danny McBride), to learn if he knows anything. Teds henchmen, Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan) and Matheson (Craig Robinson) are already there. Red arranges for Dale and Saul to come back at noon the next day so Budlofsky and Matheson can capture them.Instead, Dale and Saul spend the night getting stoned and paranoid. Convinced that satellites can track them through their cell phones, they throw them into the woods. They then fall asleep in the car with the radio on, killing the battey. They hitchhike to Reds. Red acts bizarrely and tries to call Ted. Dale and Saul beat him up, then leave him duct-taped to a chair. When Matheson and Budlofsky arrive, they get what information they can from Red -- including Dales full name -- then shoot him in the gut. Ted is now convinced that Dale is an assassin employed by the Asian gangsters attempting to muscle in on his territory. The Asians also hate Ted because he killed one of them.Dale realizes that Amber is now in danger. He and Saul go to her house. She is happy to see them, thinking that Dale has finally come to meet her parents (Ed Begley Jr. and Nora Dunn). Instead he tells them they are in danger from homicidal drug dealers. Her father threatens them with a rifle, then agrees to take his family to a safe motel. Dale plans to do something to save them. Instead, he and Saul sit in a tree and get high. Saul tells Dale he considers Dale his best friend, a comment Dale ignores. Dale instead suggests they sell some of their pot to high school kids to get enough money to leave town. They do so, but Dale is arrested by the high schools police liaison officer (Cleo King). When he tells her that he witnessed another police woman kill a man, her interest is piqued. Saul doesnt know that the officer is willing to help them and distracts her long enough to drive away in the police car with Saul. Carol has overheard the officers report that she had arrested Dale and pursues Saul and Dales stolen car. After a wild chase, Carol crashes and Saul and Dale get away.Saul and Dale argue about whether or not they should be getting high so much. Dale insults Saul and immediately feels bad, but Saul takes it personally and walks off. Dale calls Amber to tell her that he wants to work things out. But when she agrees, he decides she is too immature if she wants to be with a loser like him and breaks it off for good. He then decides that he must make amends with Saul. Saul goes to see his grandmother, but Budlofsky and Matheson are already there. Saul smashes a pot of hot coffee in Mathesons face but is quickly subdued and taken to the Barn. Dale follows Saul to the nursing home and witnesses the police investigation of Sauls abduction.Dale goes back to Reds house. Red is sitting in his bathroom, eating a cake and slowly bleeding to death. Dale persuades him that good karma necessitates saving Saul. They take Reds stash of guns and drive his Daewoo to the Barn, a former government drug testing facility that he uses to grow marijuana. When they arrive, Red decides he wants to seek medical attention instead and abandons Dale. Dale tries to assault Teds men but when Budlofsky shoots one of his own men, whom Dale had taken hostage, Dale surrenders. He is thrown in a holding cell with Saul. They reconcile then plan their escape. When Matheson enters to tell them that he can hear their plotting, they attack him. Matheson shoots off Dales ear but Saul gets his gun and shoots him in the chest.The Asians attack the barn shortly after Ted and Carol arrive. Heavily armed and shooting anyone they see, Saul and Dale try to get away in the chaos but only Saul makes it outside. He returns to save Dale but is stopped by the injured Carol and Budlofsky. When Budlofsky decides to go home to his wife, Matheson kills him for losing his edge. But before Matheson can kill Saul, Red busts through the wall in his Daewoo, crushing Matheson to death. Carol then shoots Red several times.Ted fights Dale in the subterranean growing room. One of the Asians slips in and plants a bomb. The explosion kills Ted as well as Carol. Dale carries Saul to safety, and Red staggers out of the ruined barn a few minutes later. Filthy and bleeding, they have breakfast at a local diner until Sauls grandmother can pick them up to take them to the hospital. [less]