The Haze of True Romance

Have you ever gone to a movie and come out feeling like someone cribbed part of another one of your favorite movies?

It happened to me this weekend with Pineapple Express.

Judd Apatow and his conspirators must have been stoned late one night somewhere in Los Angeles when the figured why not pop in True Romance on DVD.

No, Pineapple Express doesn't have a love story involving a hooker with a heart of gold falling for Christian Slater. But fast forward to the middle of True Romance when you meet Brad Pitt's stoner dude, and you have the seeds of James Franco's pot dealer dude in the making. Skip ahead a little bit longer and you have a Chinese Showdown between the mafia and the cops, which just as easily could be transposed to the Whites versus Asians drug gang-palooza at the end of Pineapple Express.

It's not that they're the same movies by a long shot, but I kept being reminded that while Apatow and company were trying hard to be clever throughout, Quentin Tarantino set this up so much better years ago. Where Tarantino and Tony Scott use shock violence to push you, Apatow and company just want to make you squirm, with little payback -- there's no real price to be paid.

I did enjoy Pineapple Express -- especially the blink and you'll miss it Blur reference.

There is some great humor along the way, as with any of the recent Judd Apatow productions. Seth Rogen and James Franco have an easy chemistry that anyone should be able to relate to (despite the dipping into the high school dating pool part).

But when the movie becomes a wanna-be action flick, that's when it becomes a warmed over cliche. If these potheads are a new type of action star, I think it's time for Apatow's dudes to start growing up a bit.