Observe and Report (Review)

The next frame inflamed the lesbian community.

The next frame inflamed the lesbian community.

Over only two years Seth Rogen has come up from a nobody to one of the “it” guys in the movie industry, (I left out 40 Year Old Virgin as he is very good in it but it by no means made him a star). No-one is saying he is Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise but even my Mum  would recognise him, even though I still don’t think that she could name one of his movies.

Observe and Report is a departure from his normal “foul mouthed but good natured” stuff like Superbad, Knocked Up and Pineapple Express, this is more dark than comic, and more subversive than amusing or quirky. I’m pretty sure that this is far more a reflection on the director Jody Hill, who made The Foot-Fist Way a couple years back.

The Foot-Fist Way received a lot of buzz a few years back, so much so that I eventually got tired of waiting around for it to get to Australia and tried to spring for a US DVD over Amazon, only when it finally arrived the disc was so scratched that it was unplayable. (“Good condition” my arse!) I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited… and I finally got to watch the film and was a little disappointing, it seemed far more concerned with pushing the character into such dark territory and even beyond, it wasn’t funny and was only occasionally interesting.

Observe and Report is only a little more sunny and happy and only moderately more entertaining.

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Rogen is a mall security guard name Ronnie, who takes his job very seriously, despite many failings that are obvious to everyone else. He has may character traits, he is self important, egotistical, deluded, insecure, profane…. and very stupid.

Above all Ronnie desperately wants to be a real cop and have access to guns and batons and all that good stuff. Strangely enough he has a bunch of colleagues that not only tolerate him but actually listen and respect him, this is a leap of faith that I can’t believe the director wants me to take but whatever. I also think that the other crew members are supposed to provide much of the chuckles in the film, only they really don’t.

The fun starts when a flasher strikes the mall in the parking lot with predictably hysterical (in the non-funny way) results. Seeing that the flasher becomes a small time media sensation Ronnie mistakenly believes that cracking this case will make him famous and get him into the force. Ray Liotta is Detective Harrison, who is a real cop and is investigating the case too, only in a more logical and professional manner.

So far sounds like some amusing lighthearted fare right? And in other hands it may have turned out that way. Whether that is a plus or a minus is up to your dscretion, but I am on the fence, while I would likely have been bored by another Paul Blatt clone I wasn’t really entertained or provoked to do or think much here aside from “Schyeah right, that’d happen!” a bunch of times.

Things heat up further when there is a break in at the mall overnight, Ronnie tries to solve the case and Harrison eventually snaps at Ronnie’s incompetence and sets him straight. Somehow Ronnie still misses the realisation that he is a fuck-up and applies for the police force, which actually provides the funniest scene in the film when he eagerly goes on a “ride along” with Harrison.

There is an interplay between Ronnie and another mall employee that provides for some amusing moments, but this is hardly a joke a minute affair. The film grows increasingly dark the further it degenerates into absurdity, Anna Faris provides a modicum of levity as a drunken local slut who happens to be Ronnie’s fantasy girl, and Ronnie’s alky slut of a mum provides a couple of mildy depressing scenes.

Even Harrison, though a good cop, is nothing less than a prick to Ronnie, so the fact that there isn’t a single redeeming character or positive character in the film makes this heavy going. Everyone is either stupid, arrogant, self centred, delusional or greatly flawed in some way.

The plot grow increasingly irrelevant as it moves more and more into a character study of Ronnie’s inner flaws and his growing array of troubling issues. There have been a lot of reviews comparing this to Taxi Driver, I tried in vain to ignore them but there are such strong parallels that are unavoidable.

On a side note: Patton Oswalt is briefly in this as a fast food store shift manager. He is amusing but is neither here nor there. I am willing to give him a rain-check, and hope that Big Fan turns out to be as good as advertised.

Final Rating – 6 / 10. Better than The Foot Fist Way, but not a chuckle-fest. It bothers me that precious few characters treat Ronnie with the contempt or derision that he so obviously deserves.

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
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