It seems impossible that Judd Apatow could have yet another hit on his hands, but after watching “Pineapple Express” I’ll be surprised if it’s not the breakout hit of the summer. As I drove up to the theater at 4:30 PM on a Wednesday I was immediately shocked by the number of people waiting in line to purchase tickets. Were they all there to see “Pineapple Express?” Yes, yes they were.

The theater was full, with barely a single seat free, and I could feel the excitement emanating from the audience. After the previews were over and done and Seth Rogen’s face appears on the screen, the crowd went crazy. They were yelling, clapping, and generally excited to see the guy. This was another surprise for me because while I completely understand that Rogen is now a certified star, I didn’t however expect the reaction he got from the audience. Hell, Will Smith didn’t get that kind of reaction when he graced the screen with his mug in “Hancock.”

Anyway, the flick starts out with a nice black and white flash back to a time when the military was experimenting with the effects of marijuana, then segues into a scene with Dale Denton (Rogen) smoking it up in his car and making stops along the way to serve subpoenas to people (he’s a process server). Along the way we find out that Dale has a girlfriend that is still in high school (smoking hot), and he’s also a little put off by the way his pot dealer Saul (James Franco) keeps trying to get him to hang out, which of course is exactly what he does. After smoking up a freaky looking joint with Saul, Dale goes back to work where he witnesses a murder, which freaks him out and of course he runs back to Saul’s apartment to tell him what he saw. The two of them are then thrown into a life on the run, a life filled with car chases, violence, and lots of pot.

When I heard that David Gordon Green was going to direct this flick, I was worried because of the art house quality of his previous films. I didn’t want to see a stoner comedy that looked like an art film. But I have to say Green hit this one out of the park! The action scenes are well staged, the violence was old school (think Chuck Norris), and the actors kicked serious ass.

Rogen and Franco were perfect together as the stoner buddies and Danny McBride was extremely funny as Red. McBride’s timing was spot on and the character he played (he was basically a cockroach) brought a lot to the film, in terms of comedy gold. Franco stole the show though as the drug dealer with a soft heart, I wouldn’t mind seeing him take the lead the next Apatow produced flick.

“Pineapple Express” was essentially a film about two friends, and while it could fit into the category of stoner comedy, I think it could just as easily fit into the action comedy category and be enjoyed by someone that has never touched weed in their lives. When your done reading this drivel I like to call my work, get your ass to the theater and check out this killer film.