Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express (2008) is a stoner comedy with an action film built inside it. Dale serves subpoenas. On the job he witnesses a murder and drops his weed as he panics and runs. That strain is rare and only one dealer in the city carries it, which means the killer can trace it back to him. Dale has to grab his dealer Saul and run. The idea is this: two stoned men fall into a real action film and neither is remotely prepared for it. David Gordon Green directed, which was an odd choice. Until then Green had made quiet, lyrical independent dramas like George Washington. He had never touched comedy, and it makes the film look unusual: the fights are genuinely well staged. Judd Apatow produced. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote it; they had also written Superbad. James Franco's Saul is the best work in it and brought him a Golden Globe nomination. The last quarter is unexpectedly violent; the comedy is dropped there and it does not sit well with everyone. Huey Lewis wrote the title song. It runs 112 minutes. Good for: friendship comedies, the Apatow crew, and genre mixing. Less good for: the drug humour is constant and the ending is bloody.