Movie Review - 'Observe and Report'

Observe and Report Starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, and Ray Liotta Directed by Jody Hill Rated R

You know what's funny about Taxi Driver? Nothing. And yet, in very real ways, that film's dark, obsessed DNA comes up as a match in blood tests of Observe and Report, which strictly speaking is supposed to be a comedy. Comedy is both the simplest and trickiest business of them all in the movies. You laugh or you don't. It's that easy but that specific. Laughs are the currency of comedies and when there aren't laughs, it's hard to say a comedy is successful. The trouble with Observe and Report is that, while it generates laughs, it also repels them, and almost in equal measure. Some scenes and characters are disturbed or pathetic, and it's difficult to laugh at anything under those circumstances. This is not new for writer-director Jody Hill, whose previous film, The Foot Fist Way, told a very similar story that also dared you to laugh at things that wouldn't normally be considered very funny. That movie also got very dark but it was also more inherently comic. One film this is unlikely to be compared to for long is Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which is saying something since both are about pasty, pudgy rent-a-cops feeling the tug of responsibility to be a hero after a pretty girl who works in the mall is victimized by criminal activity down by the food court. But Mall Cop is lighthearted and for whatever faults the movie has, Paul Blart is a likable guy you could root for. It's nearly impossible to pull for Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) in Observe and Report, however. He's a bully, he's selfish, he's not terribly bright, and when there is crime to pursue, Ronnie does nothing but get in the way of the real cop on the beat (Ray Liotta), because he's more interested in being the man than solving a case. Ronnie springs into action when the trashy, equally unlikable Brandi (Anna Faris) is flashed by a pervert in the parking lot, and that's when Observe and Report gets really, really mean and almost unsettling. Remember what was funny about Taxi Driver? That's also what's funny about Seth Rogen and fellow mall cop Michael Peña getting drunk and high and venting their personal and professional frustrations by beating up a group of loitering skateboarders...with their skateboards. After that, you don't root for Ronnie Barnhardt, unless it's for him to get psychological help. But while the specifics about the story and the substance are hard to get behind, there are some really good things about Observe and Report. It's the most realized character Seth Rogen has created, even though you'd never want to get to know him. As his drunken mother, recognizable supporting actress Celia Weston steals the movie in limited duty, which might be because she's the only purely harmless character in the whole film. And like The Foot Fist Way, Jody Hill has left a distinct footprint on his sophomore effort. His use of slow motion editing and jarring music cuts, along with the low-rent sociopaths he writes about, is quickly becoming a style he's mastering. There is, of course, the possibility that Observe and Report is not supposed to be that funny. Unfortunately, the film walks too close a line to know for sure.

Comments

[knives]

Would you say it is close to The King of Comedy in spirit. From the talk and trailers that is the vibe I've been getting.

[Get The Big Picture]

Probably even a little darker than that, but yeah.

[Bill]

Hahaha Jody is a man?! hahahahahaha

[Eric]

Movie was very well written, people are just fickle creatures who are scared of movies like this. Great comedy and representation of our society.