PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

"I love you, man!"

Dale (Rogen) loved his life. He had a job that he was really good at, a very young girlfriend who adored him and his dealer Saul (Franco) had just come into some of the best weed ever to be produced. It all goes wrong when Dale witnesses drug lord Ted Jones (Cole) kill one of his Asian rivals in cold blood. Panicking, he returns to Saul's place, leaving his half smoked joint behind but that joint could lead Ted's men back to him or is it just the paranoia hitting.

After cornering the market on Hollywood comedy, producer Judd Apatow moves into the action genre with a bit of comedy thrown in for good measure but can his company make the jump?

With hit after hit coming from his production comedy, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow has redefined American comedy for the new millennium. 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy', 'The Forty Year-Old Virgin', 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby', 'Knocked Up', 'Superbad', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' and 'Step Brothers' have all hit the box office, big time, but have all been character driven, slightly wacky and rude but for 'Pineapple Express' he changes his formula and for the most part it works but there are a lot more flaws.

Co-written by Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the team behind 'Superbad', you would have expected more laugh-out-loud moments but 'Pineapple Express' only ever manages to raise a smile but there is still plenty to enjoy here. Mixing action with comedy can be a difficult process and takes some skill to pull it off, as Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg did with 'Hot Fuzz', but here the action and panic comes before the all out comedy unfortunately.

The story is a simple one. Process server Dale Denton, played by Apatow stalwart Seth Rogen, loves his job but also loves his weed. His dealer Saul, played with great stoner gusto by James Franco, has just come into some of the best weed to ever hit the West Coast. Called Pineapple Express, the pair enjoy a joint and it totally blows their minds but when Dale lights up outside of the house of the next person he supposed to serve a subpoena, he sees him shot and kill an Asian man in cold blood. Panicking he heads back to Saul but the person he witness killing someone is local drug lord Ted Jones, played by Gary Cole having fun, and he finds Dale's discarded joint, instantly recognising he was smoking Pineapple Express and he knows only one dealer in LA sells this blend. This sends Dale and Saul on the run and this is when the action high jinx start.

The supporting cast back up the story. Danny McBride provides most of the laughs as Red, Saul's supplier and one who bears the brunt of all of the violence. Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson make fun henchmen and it is good to see Rosie Perez back on the big screen as a corrupt police officer. Amber Heard also continues to make a big impression on Hollywood as Dale's high school girlfriend Angie.

'Pineapple Express' isn't on the same par as Judd Apatow's previous hits but it is still enjoy, simply because of the performances of Seth Rogen and James Franco. The action sequences are also very fun, with the finale standing out even amongst established action franchises but it is the lack of genuine laugh out loud moments mean that this isn't quite as funny as Apatow fans may have been expecting.