Rogen and Franco are Dale and Saul, a couple of weed-smoking slackers who get involved in a murder. This type of movie is usually targeted to a young audience and tends to be filled with gross profane jokes, bad language and stupidity. Here we have plenty of bad language and stupidity, but the jokes are actually quite funny. Having mostly seen Franco in "serious" movies, I was surprised by his comic skills. He is hilarious as the perpetually stoned Saul, blurting out one idiotic sentence after the other. He is also very cute and a bit of eye candy never hurts. Rogen seems always to play the same part of obnoxious, lazy looser, but here he was funnier and slightly more energetic than usual.The fight scenes were actually hilarious and sort of believable, with people hitting each other like in real life, without any spectacular stunt. They "just" punched randomly, often hitting the wrong target and screaming in pain. Danny McBride in the supporting role of Red is also funny and so is Begley Jr. in the small role of the crazy father of Dale's girlfriend.

Unfunny writing. Incompetent directing.Obnoxiously bad acting. You might say Painful Express is a triple-threat of non-entertainment. How much brain damage have people suffered that this movie could have a 7.0 rating? Everyone involved in this movie should have been permanently banned from Hollywood.I have seen horribly unfunny sitcoms involving talking cars, talking horses, meddlesome landlords, brewery workers, leather-clad doofuses, aliens, midgets, adoptive fathers, handymen, coffee-drinking hipsters, FedEx delivery men, and James Belushi that were a thousand times funnier than this movie even when compared to their worst episodes.

Electric, Eclectic, and Eccentric Stoner Movie made for Pot-Heads with Poo-Poo Jokes and Violent Action added to aid Moderns and make Them feel Welcome even if They Do Not Partake.It's not a perfect Picture. The Aforementioned Potty Jokes and the usual Gross-Out Stuff that just won't Go Away Nowadays is, by now, just Ho-Hum and seems to be used Ad-Nauseum to Separate Generations and keep the Gap Wide. A couple of Other Things don't work. Seth Rogen's Romantic Side-Story is Nothing and goes Nowhere. Amber Heard is Wasted here, no She doesn't Smoke Weed, it's Her Character and the Side-Story in the Script that's Wasted.One other ill advised Misstep is the Scene with the Middle-School Kids. There is just No-Way that is going to be Anything but Cringe Inducing. No matter how You Bend and Shape the Scenario, when shown On Screen it comes across as Cross Purpose.Those Minor Asides, the Movie is a Hoot. Seth Rogen plays "Self" perfect and James Franco is also perfectly paced and placed. This is back when He wasn't Everywhere and Suffering from Overexposure. The rest of the Cast contribute and the Improvisation is as Funny as the Script which is quite Funny.The Action Finale is Violent, Bloody, and it may feel Awkward to some, it's an OK Ending and Spins-Off the Thematic Pot-Buds and Bonding that make up the rest of the Movie. It's not Completely Out of Context and works just Fine.Overall, the Target Audience will be Amused and those Oblivious or Hostile to the Marijuana Mantra should Avoid for Obvious Reasons.

This movie is like the brain of a weed addict, who think that is thinking soo fast, and he can understand his surroundings so sharply. Whereas in reality he is lying on a couch for endless hours, saying nonsense, and moving so slowww.54 minutes of movies. 55 still to go, and nothing much has happened. What is wrong with this movie?? It was starting surprisingly better than expected. I mean... Cinematography is OK - of course, photography is not on par with "Lawrence of Arabia", but it still much better than "Fast and Furious" or the kind. Acting - you feel that Seth and Franco knows how to impersonate a drug smoker, so no actor studio or improvisation class was needed.But the script is so slow and unproductive, it is amazing that it did not even try to fill the holes by mild funniness. If you want to watch a stoner comedy (before the term exists), I would suggest to go back 2000's "Dude's where's my car?".