I'm of two minds on "Pineapple Express."

1)      I generally had a good time with it.  It's a fairly genial, laid-back stoner comedy.  I smiled far more than I outright laughed, but it's likable and diverting for most of its running time.

2)      As a devout worshipper at the altar of Judd Apatow, I can't help but feel a little disappointed. This is a good movie, but given the talent involved and initial buzz (an action movie from Apatow? Bring it on!), I wanted it to be great. It's just a little too content to be a dopey, slobby pot comedy.

That's not for lack of trying, though.  The movie plays like Cheech and Chong stumbled into "Lethal Weapon"; slacker process server Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) and his dealer Saul Silver (James Franco) go on the run after getting involved in a brutal drug war.  Compared to the spartan plot machinations of Apatow's other movies, this one is practically Shakespearian in its complexity, and I appreciated the change. 

After all, sometimes working from a narrative can liberate great filmmakers.  Martin Scorsese, whose movies are notoriously episodic, did some of his best work with the strong narrative thrust of "The Departed."  Sure, it's a stretch to go from "Scorsese" to "Apatow," but I was in Judd's corner.

However, he doesn't quite pull it off.  Everything focusing on the drug war and the action surrounding it is uninspired and routine. Maybe it's me; I'm so bored by bullets and bloodshed that they've got to be really unique to excite me, and this is no "Wanted" or "District B13." 

The movie grinds to a halt whenever the story kicks in; I didn't care about the needlessly foul-mouthed Asian gangbangers, or the underground pot jungle, or any of the many explosions and gunshots. 

And I grew especially tired of lead baddies Gary Cole and Rosie Perez -- nothing they do is interesting, and their banter isn't as clever as I think they think it is.  Perez's casting here is the punchline, rather than any of her jokes, and Cole (so good in "Talladega Nights" as Ricky Bobby's father) is as colorless and bland as any number of 1980s action movie villains.

That last part is supposed to be the gag, I think.  Screenwriters Rogen and Evan Goldberg are trying to undercut the clichés of the formulaic action movies of the 1980s -- boring villains, casual brutality, and inane one-liners (Cannon Films unite!) -- by putting Dale and Saul at the helm and watching them fumble through it.  The plot stuff should be boring here because it's boring by design, and that's the point.

Maybe so, but it still doesn't make for interesting to viewing.  Other than tossing in some shockingly graphic violence, director David Gordon Green does nothing to jazz the movie up, and so parody becomes flat-out imitation.  I can't help but be reminded of the great "Hot Fuzz."  That movie sent up action movies clichés with real verve and wit AND it also functioned as a pretty damn exciting action movie itself.  "Pineapple Express" is far less successful on both counts.

Regarding director Green: his involvement is a minor positive and a major negative.  I think he's easily the best director brought into the Apatow fold; his lovely, evocative work on flicks like "Undertow" and "All the Real Girls" invites comparisons to Terrence Malick and Ingmar Bergman, and from a visual standpoint, this is the best Apatow movie yet.  Thanks to Green and DP Tim Orr, this looks like a real movie and not a glorified sitcom.  There's real texture and depth on the screen.

The aesthetic improvements come at a price.  Like Malick, Green's focused on creating a dreamy, ethereal tone, which is a big problem when crafting a fast-paced action comedy.  Scenes dawdle about, any rhythm's lost, and the humor leeches away. 

Apatow's not known for making short comedies; both "Knocked Up" and "Forty-Year Old Virgin" run over two hours, but they're long because they're overstuffed with sharp, snappy humor.  "Pineapple Express" is half as funny as either of those, and Green's insistence on stretching things out to the two-hour mark hurts.  This movie could easily lose twenty minutes without losing much footage -- there's that much dead air.

Note the 1930s-set prologue featuring a stoned Bill Hader, which goes on for too long and is barely connected to anything.  It's amusing, to a point (Hader can make the phone book funny), but I question both its inclusion and its agonizingly slow pace.

And Green's no good at shooting action.  It looks cheap and poorly staged, with only one scene -- a messy, labored fight between Dale, Saul, and duplicitous middleman Red (Danny McBride) that destroys a house -- generating any kinetic impact.

This all reads negative, and it should.  This is not Team Apatow at its finest.  But where the movie works, and what saves it, is the terrific character work.  With the exception of Cole and Perez, everyone is a treat to watch, from Nora Dunn and Ed Begley as the hostile parents of Rogen's teenage girlfriend (yes, you read that right.  Now let's move past it), to a brief appearance from "The State" alum Joe Lo Truglio. 

McBride's Red, a needy, untrustworthy, and nigh-indestructible pot supplier, is the breakout character here; a scene between him, Craig Robinson and a Daewoo Lanos is the funniest thing in the movie.  

Rogen's the straight man this time around, and he's no less amusing than he is in "Virgin" or "Knocked Up" -- his sarcastic glances while Saul babbles nonsense are worth the price of admission.  Surprisingly, he's halfway persuasive in the action scenes.  Maybe Green deserves more credit than I've given him; he makes Seth Rogen look like a badass. 

And Franco hasn't been this good since "Freaks and Geeks."   Finally free of his James Dean/Harry Osborn stigma, his Saul Silver is blessedly stupid, profane, and oddly heartwarming.  Franco's goofball persona actually turns the flick into a kind of "bromance" between him and Rogen that's ten times more affecting than you might expect.

Special mention must go to Craig Robinson (Darrell from "The Office").  As Matheson, one of the assassins after Dale and Saul, he takes a nothing part on the page and makes it his own.  He's hysterical, whether indulging in odd food behavior or berating his partner (Kevin Corrigan) for losing his edge in a manner more befitting a nagging wife.

The last scene in the movie has Rogen, Franco, and McBride excitedly riffing on the adventures they've shared.  It's funny, it's sharp, it's unexpected, and it's everything I wanted the movie to be.  Unfortunately, the preceding 105 minutes aren't as good.  There's a silly abundance of uninspired plot twists and action, and I just don't think David Gordon Green was the right man to direct.  But the character work is so good, and the movie so likable, that I'll recommend it anyways.

But I do so with reservations.  Mr. Apatow, I never thought I'd have to do that for you.