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The Apatow Company, apparently unsatisfied with releasing another heart-warming/raunchy/pop-culture spouting comedy that they've honed so well, decided to partake in a cinematic experiment with their latest release, Pineapple Express. The steps of the experiment can be broken down like so:

1. Secure a hilarious script that combines and lampoons elements of a stoner comedy and action flick from the writers of the gut-busting Superbad
2. When considering a director, bypass proven Apatow regulars Greg Mottola, Nicholas Stoller, and Jake Kasdan who have appropriately risen through the ranks
3. Instead, put the script into the hands of character-driven, indie drama wunderkind, David Gordon Green, who has no perceivable experience directing comedy in any way
4. Expect the film to be an instant comedy classic

Does anyone else see a problem with this experiment? What I'm sure started out as a clever idea from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg turns out to be one of the more convoluted, meandering comedies you'll see this year. There are, of course, the tell-tale signs of an Apatow Company production - raunchy yet maddeningly funny humor, pop-culture references, atypical leading men - and for the most part, all of that is hilarious. But what ultimately causes the Pineapple Express experiment to fall through is the inexplicable choice to have David Gordon Green direct and the sub par job he does handling comedic material.

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) is a process server. His days primarily consist of serving subpoenas to people due in court, hanging out with his 18-year old girlfriend, Angie (Amber Heard), and smoking weed. Saul Silver (James Franco) is Dale's drug dealer. His days consist of smoking weed. Period. Saul, a quintessential stoner and connoisseur of marijuana in its various forms, one day introduces Dale to "the dopest dope I've ever smoked," Pineapple Express, which in his words smells like "God's vagina." Dale tokes on the pungent grass while he sits in his car waiting to serve a subpoena to Ted Jones (Gary Cole), a drug dealer from whom all drugs in the local area originate. It's outside Ted's house that Dale sees the dealer murder an Asian man with the help of a female cop (Rosie Perez). Panicking, Dale ditches the roach and flees back to Saul's and the two decide to lay low until they can get confirmation from Red (Danny McBride), a middle man between Jones and smaller dealers, that the situation is calm.

There's just one problem: the situation isn't calm. Seeing as Saul is the only dealer around with access to Pineapple Express, Jones knows exactly who to go after and dispatches two hitmen - the apathetic Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan) and the effeminate Matheson (Craig Robinson) - to hunt down Saul and Dale. Soon enough, the two stoners are on the run and hilarious shenanigans ensue as they smoke week, try to avoid the cops, smoke weed, try to avoid Jones's men, smoke weed, and become friends in the process. They also smoke some weed. Oh, and inadvertently trigger a drug war between Jones that family of the Asian man he killed.

All the pieces are in place for another solid Apatow Company product yet there's just something off about Pineapple Express from beginning to end. From the black and white WWII era opening with an unfunny Bill Hader to the confusingly touching conclusion, there is no theme or tone that is consistently carried throughout the entirety of the film. Many of the scenes shift back and forth in mood and drag on too long before pittering out due to Green's apparent cluelessness with how to direct comedy. Most of the time, the dynamic between the consistent Rogen and the show-stealing Franco result in hilarious exchanges such as this:

• Dale: How could he find us?
• Saul: Umm...heat-seeking missiles, blood hounds, foxes, barracudas...
• Dale: It's just...I'm kind of flabbergasted when you say things like that. It's weird.
• Saul: Thank you.
• Dale: Not a compliment.

But other times, Green shows his lack of comedic timing by letting the improvising run unchecked, which results in either scenes dragging on before pittering out humorlessly, or dialogue overlapping in a M*A*S*H*-esque fashion that obscures a lot of good jokes. His direction of the action sequences is also stiff and stilted, which could be chalked up to the spoof nature of the film, but is more than likely a red flag about Green's limits as a director. Also, check out the severity of the violence during Act III and tell me it doesn't seem at least a little out of place in such a seemingly light-hearted film.

But, while Green's direction certainly spoils the film, it doesn't ruin it. Rogen and Goldberg are too good at writing comedy for their wit not to shine through and Rogen and Franco demonstrate an on-screen chemistry that needs to be revisited in the future. Now that he's not playing second fiddle to a superhero (Spider Man) or bad material (Annapolis), Franco especially excels, completely vanishing into his role. There's really no telling what this film could've been if handled by properly, but it certainly didn't rival what I dubbed "the funnest film of the year" as I thought it would. While there's still plenty to enjoy from Pineapple Express, there could've been so much more if Apatow and his buddies wouldn't have have tried experimenting.

Background Buzz
A round up of related content from across the web including fan blogs, podcasts, analysis, news, magazines, and more. Updated often, so check back!

-Seth Rogen and James Franco interview each other using fan questions at Unscripted

-Amber Heard is interviewed over at Books 'n' Media

-David Gordon Green talks about meeting the Apatow crew and improvising on the set at FirstShowing.net

-Avoid work by playing as Dale or Saul in the Pineapple Express game

-David Gordon Green and the cast give some behind the scenes info at Brightcove