Up in smoke

New Apatow film is funny enough—for a while | Sam Thielman

All aboard the night train to crazytown! Stoner comedies have been around since Cheech and Chong were first getting arrested, but I don't think I've ever seen one as cheerfully confused as David Gordon Green's Pineapple Express. It's a buddy comedy about a process server (Seth Rogen) who has to defeat a drug kingpin (Gary Cole), get his girl (Amber Heard) back, stop a corrupt local cop (Rosie Perez), and make up with his friend Saul (James Franco).

It's yet another semi-smart goof from producer Judd Apatow, and while it's not a crash-and-burn disaster like Drillbit Taylor, Express doesn't quite live up to Knocked Up or The 40-Year-Old Virgin—movies that were, in a backhanded way, written in defense of traditional fatherhood and chastity. It's old-fashioned but true: A moral imperative makes a better story, even a frothy comedy.