3. Saul Silver - Pineapple Express
50 years from now when we look back at his catalogue, Pineapple Express will likely be considered "lesser" Apatow. Its protagonist just isn't as charming as the future father Ben Stone, the 40-year-old who's never had sex, or the spunky but filthy bridesmaid Annie. Second only to the performance from Danny McBride, what makes Pineapple Express a decent film is James Franco's pot-dealing Saul Silver. One can imagine in the near-decade since we'd seen his character in Freaks and Geeks he had grown up, lost the James Dean swagger that Franco had accumulated since portraying the actor in a TV movie, and become this empty-headed lovable oaf. Whether he was smoking a 4-pointed joint or trying to destroy a cell phone in the woods, James Franco managed to help pull this film from the depths of mediocrity.