--- description: 'The Tonight Show' turns into a high-pressure game show in this clip title: Watch James Franco Try (and Fail) to Give 5-Second Summaries of Serious Movies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # James Franco Tries and Fails to Give 5-Second Summaries of Serious Movies by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 29, 2014 7:00 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 29, 2014 7:00 PM CUT Jimmy Fallon kept James Franco really busy on _The Tonight Show_ last night. Not only did Fallon have Franco give him a pointers on [how to take selfies with fans](http://time.com/3051334/james-franco-jimmy-fallon-selfies/ "undefined"), but the late-night host also made the _Of Mice and Men_ star play a rapid-fire round of 5-Second Summaries. In theory, the game is simple: one player is assigned a movie title and has five seconds to give a summary of the film so the other player can guess the title. Unfortunately, the rules kept changing while the two played, devolving into a giggle-and-swear fest with Franco getting a quick lesson in what you can and can’t say on television. While no one was able to get _Toy Story_ or _The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants_, at least Franco was able to figure out _Pineapple Express_. Watch part two here: **MORE**: [When Peter Met Homer: A First Look at the _Family Guy_–_Simpsons_ Crossover](http://time.com/3044325/when-peter-met-homer-a-first-look-at-the-family-guy-simpsons-crossover/ "undefined") **MORE**: [Watch James Franco Teach Jimmy Fallon How to Take Selfies With Fans](http://time.com/3051334/james-franco-jimmy-fallon-selfies/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3051726/james-franco-tries-and-fails-to-give-5-second-summaries-of-serious-movies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3051726/james-franco-tries-and-fails-to-give-5-second-summaries-of-serious-movies/"},"headline":"James Franco Tries and Fails to Give 5-Second Summaries of Serious Movies","datePublished":"2014-07-29T19:00:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:12:00.230Z","description":"'The Tonight Show' turns into a high-pressure game show in this clip","url":"https://time.com/3051726/james-franco-tries-and-fails-to-give-5-second-summaries-of-serious-movies/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","celebrities","The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon","james franco"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3051726/james-franco-tries-and-fails-to-give-5-second-summaries-of-serious-movies/","name":"James Franco Tries and Fails to Give 5-Second Summaries of Serious Movies"}}]}] ```