If you close your eyes and think about Craig Robinson, you probably see Darryl Philbin from The Office leaning against a forklift or maybe he’s sitting at a piano singing about "The Pontiac Bandit" in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But for a specific generation of comedy nerds, there’s one role that stands above the rest. It’s the role that basically weaponized his ability to be both terrifying and incredibly polite at the exact same time.
I’m talking about Matheson. The hitman. The guy who just wanted some dinner.
When Pineapple Express hit theaters back in 2008, it wasn't just another "stoner movie." It was a weird, high-octane blend of a 1980s action flick and a Judd Apatow hang-out session. And right in the middle of it was Craig Robinson, playing one half of the most bumbling yet dangerous hitman duo in cinematic history. Honestly, it’s the performance that proved he could do more than just deadpan reactions to Michael Scott’s nonsense.
The Matheson Dynamic: Why It Worked
Usually, in action movies, the hitmen are these faceless, cold-blooded machines. Think The Terminator or those guys in suits from John Wick. But David Gordon Green, the director, did something different. He gave us Matheson and Budlofsky (played by the equally brilliant Kevin Corrigan).
Matheson isn't some elite mercenary. He’s a guy with a job. He has bills. He has a social life.
There’s this specific energy Craig brings to the character that feels so lived-in. He’s not "acting" like a killer; he’s playing a guy who happens to kill people for a living but would much rather be talking about his brand new carpet or what he's having for dinner. It’s that cognitive dissonance that makes the movie so rewatchable. One minute he’s threatening to stab Saul's balls with a protractor, and the next, he’s genuinely hurt that his partner doesn't care about his discretion anymore.
The "I Seen't It" Legacy
We have to talk about the dialogue.
The "I Seen't It" scene is legendary. If you’ve spent more than five minutes on the internet in the last decade, you’ve seen the GIF. It’s a masterclass in comedic timing. Craig Robinson’s delivery of "I seen't it!"—the way he commits to that specific, slightly incorrect grammar with absolute confidence—is why he’s a comedy powerhouse.
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But it’s not just that one line. Look at the scene where he’s raiding Angie’s house. He’s walking around like he’s on a home improvement show, commenting on the British Knights sneakers and the quality of the carpet. He’s tracking mud. He’s annoyed about it. It’s so human. It’s so regular. That’s the secret sauce of Craig Robinson in Pineapple Express. He brings a grounded, blue-collar vibe to a character that could have easily been a cartoon.
The Improv Factor
A lot of people don’t realize how much of the movie was born out of riffing. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote a tight script, sure, but they also gave the actors room to breathe.
When you see Matheson and Budlofsky arguing about "discretion" or the fact that Matheson used to be "ruthless," you’re watching two actors who really understand the rhythm of a conversation. Craig has this way of using his physical presence—he’s a big dude—to intimidate, but he undercuts it with this soft-spoken, almost sensitive vocal performance.
It’s hilarious.
He treats the violence like a minor inconvenience. Getting shot in the stomach? "Man, I'm gonna die now. Probably." It’s the casualness of it all. Most actors would play that for maximum drama or screaming pain. Craig plays it like he just realized he forgot his keys.
The Chemistry with Kevin Corrigan
You can’t talk about Matheson without Budlofsky. They are a package deal.
The "old married couple" dynamic they have is what grounds the villain side of the story. While Ted Jones (Gary Cole) is doing the "evil drug lord" thing, these two are just trying to get through the day. There's a subtle sadness to Matheson when he realizes his partner is checking out, wanting to go home to his wife for dinner. Craig plays that rejection perfectly. It’s like his best friend is breaking up with him in the middle of a gunfight.
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Career Impact: From Dunder Mifflin to the Big Screen
By 2008, Craig was already a recognizable face because of The Office, which was at its absolute peak. But Pineapple Express did something important: it showed he could hold his own in a massive ensemble cast that included James Franco, Danny McBride, and Bill Hader.
It proved he was a "dependable comic counterpuncher," as some critics called him back then.
He didn't need to be the lead to own the scene. He just needed a couple of lines and a bowl of warm food to submerge his hands into (yeah, remember that weird detail? It was improvised). This role opened the doors for everything that followed, from Hot Tub Time Machine to his lead role in Killing It.
The Pineapple Express 2 That Never Was
Every few years, rumors of a sequel pop up. In 2013, we even got a fake trailer for Pineapple Express 2 as part of a marketing stunt for This Is the End. Seeing Craig back in that world, even for a joke, reminded everyone how much they missed Matheson.
The reality? It probably won't happen.
Between the Sony hack emails (which revealed some budget disputes) and the fact that most of the characters—including Matheson—met a pretty definitive end, a direct sequel is a tall order. But that’s almost better. It keeps the original movie as this lightning-in-a-bottle moment where everyone was at the top of their game.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven't watched the movie in a few years, go back and focus specifically on the hitmen scenes.
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Most people focus on Saul and Dale’s chemistry, but the parallel story of Matheson and Budlofsky is where the real nuance is. Watch for the small stuff: the way Craig reacts to being told to "kill," the genuine confusion he has about people's footwear, and the weirdly polite way he handles kidnapping.
Actionable Insight:
If you're a fan of Craig's specific "polite-but-menacing" energy, check out his work in Mr. Robot or Killing It. He takes that same DNA from Matheson—that grounded, slightly exhausted realism—and applies it to much darker or more complex scenarios. It’s a direct evolution of what he started in 2008.
One final thing to look for:
Next time you watch the climax at the barn, pay attention to the "Dinner's gonna be cold tonight" line. It’s the perfect, tragic, hilarious end for a character who was always just one meal away from being a regular guy.
Matheson wasn't a villain; he was just a guy who worked for one. And Craig Robinson made sure we never forgot that.
Next Steps to Deepen Your Knowledge:
- Watch the "Line-O-Rama" for Pineapple Express on YouTube to see the various improvised threats Craig Robinson came up with during the interrogation scenes.
- Track the evolution of the "Apatow Regulars" by comparing Craig's performance here with his much smaller, more reserved role in Knocked Up.
- Explore the "Hitman Comedy" subgenre by watching Grosse Pointe Blank or In Bruges to see how Robinson's Matheson compares to other "relatable" cinematic killers.
The legacy of Matheson lives on in every "I seen't it" meme, but the actual performance is a masterclass in character-driven comedy that deserves a second look.