Take North by Northwest, throw in some trademark raunchy Judd Apatow humor, and two loveable stoners and The Pineapple Express takes you on a wild ride that will leave you on a great cinematic high. While the picture takes Apatow comedies to a new level, throwing some fantastically fun action into the mix, at the heart of Pineapple Express is a story of two men developing an unbreakable friendship, making the flick the best bro-mantic comedy of the summer!

Dale Denton (Seth Rogan), a process server, just happens to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time when he witnesses one of Los Angeles biggest drug lords, Ted Jones (Gary Cole), viciously killing off one of his competitors. Terrified, Dale takes off down the road, but not without leaving a telltale sign, a roach from the most rare marijuana in the world, the Pineapple Express. When Dale turns to his drug-dealing friend Saul (James Franco) for help, the duo realize how easily Jones will make the connection to them, and just how much danger they are actually in.

Much like their screenplay for Superbad, Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg explore the depths of male kinship with their latest vehicle. Never ones to repeat themselves though, the writing duo up the ante by adding drug related humor and gun slinging action to the recipe.

The Hitchcockian theme of having Rogan’s Dale Denton get caught in a misunderstood situation creates the perfect jumping point for the over-the-top comedy, as well as the big action sequences. Car chases, explosions, and underground gunfights await audiences, along with humor both inane and surprisingly smart.

However, like the best of the Apatow comedies, The Pineapple Express works because of its wonderfully developed characters. Dale is a loveable loser that dreams of being a talk radio disc jockey. The process server tries to balance his day by smoking marijuana and dealing with his high school girlfriend, played by the deliciously cute starlet of Never Back Down, Amber Heard. While we all learned last summer that Seth Rogan has the chops to carry a feature length comedy, he uses Pineapple Express as a way to springboard himself into the action realm, and the results are surprisingly believable.

However, like another box-office blockbuster from earlier this summer, the biggest story to come from Pineapple Express will be the success of a seemingly miscast actor. James Franco shows off his long awaited comedic side, and like the late Heath Ledger’s turn as The Joker, the young actor will more than pleasantly surprise audiences. The charisma that he showcases as the smoked out of his mind, drug-dealing Saul is the perfect match to Rogan’s overly paranoid Dale. The friendship the two develop over the course of the picture is entirely believable, and, in a way, quite touching. The marketing campaign for the film only delivers a taste of the zany insanity Franco brings to The Pineapple Express, and hopefully this fantastic performance is only a sign of good things to come from the young actor.    

With a surprising scope to the picture, opening in the mid-Twentieth century, the comedy moves at a fairly even pace throughout. The one problem that director David Gordon Green faces with The Pineapple Express is not making the picture funny, but finding away to get the dynamic duo of Dale and Saul out of their extremely dangerous predicament. Using an intelligently written subplot, as well as smart comedic action, Green hilariously manages to solve the dilemma, bringing about an action packed, satisfying conclusion.

A refreshing departure from the usual Apatow raunchy, romantic comedies, The Pineapple Express is an action packed “bro-mance” that will leave you wanting to ride again and again.

-Joe Russo