American Ultra a stoner who can smoke ‘em down

CEBU, Philippines – The likeably awkward chemistry of Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg remains intact in “American Ultra,” a violent action-comedy that is half “Pineapple Express,” half “The Bourne Identity” – but not as good as either.

Stewart and Eisenberg, who previously starred together in the splendidly low-key summer comedy “Adventureland,” again come together as an appealing, mutually mop-headed duo that balances Eisenberg’s stuttering unease with Stewart’s deadpan cool.

They play flannel-wearing West Virginia couple Mike and Phoebe, who are happy together despite Mike’s marijuana habit, his perpetual apologizing and panic attacks sparked by just about anything that upsets his seemingly innate inertia.

Looking at a car that’s crashed into a tree, he wonders out loud to Phoebe, who is placating and devoted, whether he is the tree and she is the car. The small-town, low-stakes drama of “American Ultra” is convincing in the beginning, thanks to the two stars. But it is a set-up.

Switching to Langley, the film, directed by Nima Nourizadeh (“Project X”) and written by Max Landis (“Chronicle”), fills in the backstory. A petulant young agent (Topher Grace) has risen through the ranks and wants to eliminate evidence of the experiment that gave Mike his secret talents, which was overseen by Connie Britton’s more sympathetic Victoria Lasseter.

To prevent her former student’s death, she sneaks into the convenience store and activates Mike with a few code words. When thugs come to kill him, Mike is astounded to find himself expertly stabbing one of them with a spoon. Later, as he cowers behind a lamp post, looking at the bloody wreckage, he tells Phoebe: “I have, like, a lot of anxiety about this.”

Much mayhem ensues, surprisingly violent and cartoonish in its extremes, as the small town comes entirely under siege.

“American Ultra” is a stoner’s paranoia come to life. A toothless Walton Goggins joins the strong ensemble as the nuttiest of the CIA’s small army, along with John Leguizamo as a local drug dealer.

The assembled talent could use more character development and a little more wit in place of the sadistic, fun-­draining comic-book action scenes that increasingly co-opt the comedy, which is too dependent on the joke of Eisenberg becoming an action hero – which becomes tiresome.

That said, “American Ultra” does have its simple genre charms thanks, significantly, to its entertaining cast and leading pair.

Stewart, in particular, looks like she’s punching below her weight class. As is often the case in her post-“Twilight” career, she is the best thing in the movie.

She and Eisenberg remain lazy losers we can love – a Bonnie and Clyde for a more laid-back generation.

“American Ultra,” a Lionsgate release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “strong bloody violence, language throughout, drug use and some sexual content.” Running time: 96 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four. (AP)