An entertaining Apatow comedy/action romp!

Pineapple Express is another film from one of the most popular contemporary Hollywood mega producers: Judd Apatow. People may likely remember the sudden and abrupt emergence of Apatow when his name was slapped on such titles as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and more recently Knocked Up as well as Superbad among others. Due to the astronomical cult following and the impressive box office profits courtesy of Judd Apatow's productions, there is no mystery behind his continuous stream of new movies.

With Pineapple Express, the creative team decide to take a different approach. The story was conceived by Apatow who partnered with multiple-time colleague Seth Rogen and relative newcomer Evan Goldberg. These three direct their red-rimmed eyes to the defunct genre that effectively dominated the 80s: violent action-comedy. Except this isn't Beverly Hills Cop - we have a stoner comedy mixed with satisfying quantities of action. While this doesn't reproduce the spirit of Knocked Up or the vulgar raunchiness of Superbad, the film succeeds on its individual merits. Apatow's decision to attempt new styles while he's on a roll is to be lauded.

Indolent pothead/stoner Dale Denton (Rogen) leads a tedious life: he's dating an 18-year-old high school girl (Heard), he's unreliable, he's recurrently high on drugs, and he holds down a lacklustre job. Dale frequently purchases weed from drug dealer Saul (Franco), who also often enjoys getting stoned off his own merchandise. On Dale's latest visit to Saul's apartment he's provided with the newest form of weed: a specially imported brand known as Pineapple Express. But when Dale witnesses a crooked cop (Perez) and the city's biggest drug dealer (Cole) committing a murder, he panics and flees for his own safety. Both Dale and Saul are forced to go on the run as their lives are endangered.

Cue oddball scenarios, excessive drug use, gun play and a host of supporting characters. Unlike most renowned action heroes, the protagonists are stoned throughout the duration of their adventure. Better yet, the central characters do exactly what any human would do in such a situation: paranoiacally destroy their phone calls in fear of being traced, they flee to the forest, try to leave town...and all while worrying about loved ones in the process.

Pineapple Express is a decent slice of entertainment, which is to be expected from the creative team involved. Director Green appears to possess a proficient understanding of the necessity to develop the characters while keeping his audience interested, as well as having his audience excited by the intense tone of the action scenes. The director demonstrates skill and aptitude behind the camera.
However...the screenplay is unfortunately marred by an abundance of problems. First of all, the screenwriting team never seem to discover the correct balance of comedy and action. Instead it's more of a stoner comedy featuring an excessive string of unnecessary drug scenes. The best laughs are few and far between. Even then, they are never overly memorable. You'll forget the laughs within a week. Also, there are far too many minor characters that appear briefly, and then are never heard of again. Cole and Perez appear as stock villains with never any real menace in their portrayals. The film needed to be more succinct as opposed to continually meandering and plodding.

Seth Rogen and James Franco have been great friends for years, and their chemistry is elevated due to this fact. The two bounce naturally off each other with scripted lines on top of obviously ad-libbed lines. There are various scenes pervaded with great dialogue between both Rogen and Franco. Both keep in their respective characters skilfully from start to finish. If one considers the flawed screenplay, it's possible to see the other game actors giving it 100%.

Overall, Pineapple Express is an entertaining, albeit flawed film that provides a steady supply of violent action, occasionally hilarious laughs, interesting scenarios and plenty of eccentric characters. Not as good as 2007's Hot Fuzz, but it will get its box office profits and the target audience will be pleased.

6.8/10