Pineapple Express (Seth Rogan, James Franco, Rosie Perez, Gary Cole) — I have spoken previously about the new genre of what I call “grunge” comedies. The grosser the better; pot rules; bodily parts come out, get blown up, and anything goes. The plots are thin. The cinematography is irrelevant. Direction is non-existent. The so-called stars are just plain lucky guys who were spotted and tabbed for their odd looks, their comfortable delivery and their willingness to collect big paychecks and be typecast as druggies for life. Pineapple Express is just another one in the long list of Judd Apatow-produced “grungers” that you’ll like if you’re an afficianado of these meaningless films but not if you are a student of film. Compared to the equally gross, but more sophisticated Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express belongs in the minor leagues. I almost challenge you to see both to see the difference in what a good director and a good script can do for a gross comedy to differentiate it from good to bad. The 40-year-old Virgin had it; Knocked Up didn’t. Step Brothers had it; Pineapple Express didn’t. OK, the story: Seth Rogan plays a process server and reefer addict who is relatively harmless. His dealer is a likable doofus played by James Franco, an actor who has shown real talent in movies like Annapolis, Spiderman and In the Valley of Elah. But parts have been scarce for him. Not surprisingly, he is the best performer in the movie. Rosie Perez comes out of TV hell to play a crooked cop who, along with a drug fence, played by aging character actor Gary Cole kill a rival Asian drug lord. Somehow, Rogan’s character witnesses the murder through an open window when he goes to serve a subpoena while smoking an apparently amazing pure type of marijuana known as Pineapple Express. The American bad guys are after Rogan; the Asians are after the Americans. There are lots of bullets, cars running over people, ears and appendages being shot off, and so on and so on. Pineapple Express is the not for me, not at all.