Observe and Report

Observe and Report

Observe and Report - Written and directed by Jody Hill, starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, and Ray Liotta - Rated R

I have not seen Paul Blart: Mall Cop, (I will watch it on DVD) but I'm pretty sure this movie is quite different even though both movies are about a mall cop. Paul Blart is rated PG, which means it's most likely family friendly; Observe and Report is anything but family friendly. It may not even be audience friendly, depending on what reviews you read. I found it hilarious, weird, stupid, smart, and surprisingly deep at times. The main thing to point out is that this is not like one of the Judd Apatow comedies that Rogen is known for. This movie has the signature of it's director, Jody Hill. If you've seen The Foot Fist Way, then you'll have an idea of what's in store. It also helps if you've seen Eastbound and Down on HBO. That first film and the TV show are both funny, but they are also pretty weird. Hill doesn't have a normal sense of humor and that makes for an interesting comedy.

Observe and Report is about Ronnie (Rogen), a bi-polar mall security guard who dreams of saving humanity (with the help of "the biggest shotgun you have ever seen"), winning the girl of his dreams (Faris), becoming a cop, and stopping a serial flasher at the mall. Ronnie is not a nice guy. Some people may have trouble getting behind him in his quest for justice. I can understand if people hate the character; he is obnoxious, egotistic, delusional, and, arguably, a rapist (more on that later). Not sure what it says about me, but I wanted things to work out for Ronnie. I wasn't annoyed by his sociopathic behavior, I was amused by it, and that might make or break this movie for some people.

Issues about the character aside, it should be hard for anyone to deny that Rogen gives a great performance. I completely bought that he was mentally unstable and it seemed like he truly believed in his heroic destiny. This might just be because Rogen is finally playing a different character, though. Think about it: take his characters from Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Knocked Up, The 40-Year Old Virgin, and Pineapple Express and mix them up within the movies. You get the same wise-cracking stoner in each one. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of that character, but it doesn't show range and it's bound to grow stale (it already has with some people). This film showed me that Rogen can act like someone other than himself and still be funny and I think this will be the film people look at later in his career when they want to point out when he became an actor.


Rogen isn't the only one who does some good work here. Faris is hilarious as the superficial Brandi. I laughed aloud during the dinner scene when her eyes light up as she sees a tray of tequila shots and exclaims giddily, "Shots!" This role may not be a stretch for her, but she's perfect for it. Michael Pena (World Trade Center) is also impressive as Ronnie's second in command. His lisping quasi-gangster voice is hilarious and when his drug induced portion of the movie comes up, the film goes from amusing to comedic brilliance. Part of that is because of Jody Hill's attempt to pace the movie based on what drug was being consumed during certain scenes, which is the kind of interesting direction you don't see in comedies today. The other part of it is the writing.



Hill has written a dark, funny script that will make some people uncomfortable. I'll go ahead and get into the slightly controversial "rape" scene. (Some of this could constitute as spoiler material, so fair warning.) In this film, there is basically a date rape scene involving prescription medication and alcohol. Normally, this wouldn't be played up as a comedic scene, but it is arguable whether or not it is rape. It's not a stretch to think that Brandi has been involved in similar situations before due to the hints of her partying behavior. Also, Ronnie is a delusional person and if Brandi wasn't putting up a fight, then that's the same to him as completely consensual sex. And Brandi does speak during the scene, so she's aware of what's happening. Anyway, I just wanted to comment on it because some reviews have used it as a negative aspect of the movie and I think that's a bit unfair.

It's unfortunate that some critics are focusing on the "rape" because there are many other serious aspects to this movie that require multiple viewings, I think. First off, Ronnie is medicated and delusional, so you might start to question what is real and what isn't. This is a comedy in which something completely crazy might happen and we're not supposed to suspend disbelief because it's a comedy; we're supposed to question it and then consider the possibility that this movie might have a bit more going on for it, psychologically. This is still a comedy, though. Just think of it as a comedic version of Taxi Driver. The fact alone that there is debate about whether or not parts of this film are fantasy or reality shows that this is not your standard comedy. It's not a masterpiece or anything, but it demands a bit more attention and intelligence than most comedies today, and that's a step up in my book.

One more thing: I'm pretty sure I've nailed home the fact that this is not a family movie, but I should mention that there is full frontal male nudity in this (which has strangely become a standard thing in R-rated comedies lately). Some people take issue with that, but if you just divert your eyes at times, you should be okay.


The Midnight Meat Train - Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, starring Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, and Vinnie Jones - Rated R


I don't want to dwell one the story with this one, just look at that title and take it literally. There is a late subway train, and Mahogany (Jones, the guy with the hammer in the poster) kills passengers and butchers them as if they were meat. And Leon (Cooper), an aspiring artistic photographer, notices Mahogany and follows him around to try and witness some truly brutal aspects of city life so he can put on an art showcase. But who's out there watching this movie hoping for a compelling story? The story works and is even interesting, but this movie is all about the blood, and there is a ridiculous amount of it.

Here's an example: people get hung upside down on meat hooks on this train, and at one point, a guy gets gutted, so to speak, and about five gallons of blood floods out of his body. That's the kind of gore you can't take seriously and you just have to laugh a bit. I truly think that most of the gore is intended for laughs, but this movie also strives for cringe-inducing scenes as well. There's plenty of both. You might see somebody's eyeball fly out of their head after being bludgeoned with a huge hammer one minutes, then you might see a meat hook pierce an ankle and then rip down into the leg. You see? That eyeball one is funny and slightly stupid (especially since the CG is kind of weak), but that meat hook/ankle one? That hurt...I gritted my teeth on that one. Normally I would have a problem with such an inconsistency, but I thought it added variety to this one.

It's a good thing that the violence changes because the acting is pretty basic here. Jones is good at that whole silent menacing thing that he does in every role and Bradley Cooper plays obsessed well enough, but it's not groundbreaking or anything. Everyone is simply serviceable, but then again, so are the characters themselves. On the DVD, the director mentions that they were trying to create a new horror icon in Mahogany. I can't say that they accomplished that here, but Jones tries his best and the hints at Mahogany's history sparks some interest, but before the story goes too deep into character it steers back towards the gore.

But all of it looks pretty good, style wise. This film has a look to it that adds a layer of darkness to the story. That dark look (literally and figuratively) may be the factor that keeps this film from becoming goofy. So if you're into horror/slasher flicks, give this a try. You'll laugh, you'll look away once or twice, and maybe you'll scan back to take a second look at some of the gore. Either way, I think most people will be entertained.

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

Observe And Report

Observe And Report

Starring:

Seth Rogen, Ray Liotta, Anna Faris

Director: Jodi Hill

Genre: Action,Comedy

Rated: R

Observe and report is the Second Film from director Jodi Hill (The first being the great “The Foot Fist Way”) Just like in Foot Fist the family dynamic and dysfunction is explored for great comedic effect.

Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogan) is the head of mall security he feels it is his duty to protect the mall,so when a flasher comes to the mall and flashes multiple woman Ronnie sees this as his big break. Unfortunately for Ronnie Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) is also on the case.

Ronnie is in charge of a small group of misfit mall cops, he lives with his alcoholic mother and wants to be the boyfriend of Brandi (Anna Farris) who works the cosmetics counter. Ronnie hopes that he will be the one to catch the flasher and by being the hero he will get the girl, and everyone will love him.

The movie is dark and is sporadically funny. The scenes of Violence against street thug’s, skateboarders and an irate mall customer are great. The issue here is the movie doesn’t commit itself to being a completely dark comedy it only goes half way.  If the entire movie could have been as good as the ending this one would come highly recommended. As it stands Observe and Report has potential, but like Ronnie it continually falls short of reaching it.

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‘Observe and Report’ a Hilarious, Laugh-Out-Loud Variation of ‘Blart’, Anna Faris Brilliant

"observed" it, and now I'm "reporting". Observe and Report, the second movie from The Foot Fist Way writer/director Jody Hill, is, in three words, funny as hell. The cast is sure-fire, as well. Seth Rogen reminds us of Superbad's Officer Michaels and Anna Faris shows us a side of her that we've never seen before-and I like it. With a movie starring Rogen, you expect the regular Judd Apatow cast to tag along. But not in Report. With this one, he gets to try out his everyman type of comedy on people outside of his comfort zone. One of them, Ray Liotta. I must say, this really surprised me. Liotta hasn't been in any real live-action comedies before, so why now? Maybe because he wants to branch back out from doing stuff like SpongeBob Squarepants and Bee Movie to Field of Dreams and Hannibal again. Taking it all a bit too hard, I might say. Not my first choice to banter back-and-forth with Seth Rogen (although a great scene including the two is when they duke it out whilst Rogen puts the beat-down on some cops). Anna Faris is brilliant, too. You know her as the dumb broad from the Scary Movie series and The House Bunny. But Faris is beautiful and talented. She's not a dumb blonde; taking on this role is difficult. How can one portray an emotionally scarred, girl-next-door make-up sales clerk as great as Faris? She doesn't quite seem herself, but it's obvious that she is very comfortable doing this sort of thing. Come on out of the PG-13 shadow that 20^thCentury Fox has you under and venture out into R-rated comedies, Anna. Compare her to Holly Madison and Denise Richards. This girl's got something going for her.

Meet Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen), head of mall security at his local mall. After a flasher, who looks dangerously close to Michael Moore but isn't, strikes, he's on the case, accusing anyone who looks the least bit suspicious. When the situation takes a turn for the worse, the scene calls for a real police officer (Liotta). Ronnie doesn't like that, what's he doing wrong? Now he's got to catch the pervert before the police do, impress hottie Brandy (Faris), deal with his alcoholic mother (played by the talented Celia Weston)-all while being the underdog who wants to make it to the top. Jody Hill is quietly changing the face of comedy, forget Tina Fey! Hill captures the intense randomness and awkwardness that comes when trying to catch a criminal when nobody believes you have what it takes-and it's laugh out loud funny.

Observe and Report is nothing like Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I know it's constantly being compared to the Kevin James Happy Madison movie, but honestly, it's extremely different. Report has a fat cop, sure. So did Blart. Report has a sort-of love story. So did Blart. But did Kevin James drop the F bomb over 120 times, and flash mall-goers and we see EVERYTHING? Nope, count Blart out of that one. Knock up a point for Report. Paul Blart: Mall Cop was also a very happy-go-lucky flick. It had an obvious moral, but Observe and Report does not. Our dreams are not always appropriate for who we are. With the right motivation, even the most unlikely can succeed. But do we see a movie for the moral? No. We see a movie like Observe and Report or Paul Blart: Mall Cop to make us laugh. And as long as it gets the job done, I'm cool with it. And I have to say, Jody Hill passed with flying colors.

This is angry, offensive and explicit. Picture Pineapple Express with more sex and violence. Seth Rogen is hysterical, Anna Faris is awesome and Ray Liotta isn't as bad as I thought he'd be. Better than Paul Blart and funnier thanPineapple Express, and we didn't even have the regular Apatow gang that usually accompanies Rogen (we get a cameo from Danny McBride from The Foot Fist Way, however, and we're treated with small roles for Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt and Collette Wolfe, from Semi-Pro and Four Christmases). Prepare to tear up in laughter; Observe and Report definitely earns its place as one of my favorite movies so far of 2009.

4/5 stars.

-Nick

Observe and Report - **

Review:  Ummm....I am not really sure how to review this movie.  It is basically two different movies, the first half, which is what you would come to expect from Seth Rogan, and the second half, which is something....different.

The first half is very funny and a well done comedy.  Such is what we have come to expect about Seth Rogan.  The first half centers around a mall security guard who thinks he is more important and prominent than he actually is.  This is inherently funny and he is put in many situations that make it even more so after his mall is harassed by a flasher.

The second part of the movie is definitely not what you would expect.  What seemed to be a normal comedy turns into a very dark, at times gory, black comedy that really pushes the boundaries between comedy and just plain weird.  It would not be as bad if the whole movie was like this but since the first half is so well done it just goes to confuse the audience and takes away from enjoyment of the film overall.  It is worth a viewing, I am glad I saw it but also glad I didn't spend more money to see it in the theaters.

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observe and report

just not that damn funny.  when the best line in the movie is, “fuck you, ronnie.”  something is amiss.

although that probably was the funniest exchange in the movie.  fuck you ronnie.  that would actually look pretty cool on a t-shirt.  fuck you ronnie with seth rogan’s mug right above it.

if i saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that had seth rogan’s face on it and said, “fuck you, ronnie”, i’d probably laugh harder than i did at anything in this stinker.  maybe i just wasn’t stoned.  i’m starting to think seth rogan movies are only funny if you’re stoned.

which is cool by me.  most things are funnier when you’re stoned.

but pass on this flick.  i’m thinking it wasn’t even as funny as paul blart.  because it’s basically the same film except the say “fuck you, ronnie” alot.  there are some funny moments where i chuckled out loud.  i just can’t remember them fifteen minutes after walking out of the theater.

amy smart has a kicking little body though.  that’s cool to watch.  and i’m really hoping they did a piss poor botox job on her lips on purpose.  but i bet they didn’t.  she looks terrible in the face.

so yeah.  this movie sucks.  and that’s it.  that’s the rating.  sucks.

Cal Reed

Observe and Report

This movie is awful. Don't ever see it. Go buy and watch season one of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" instead. You will be more entertained.

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Observe and Report

It's nice to see a movie take chances.

It's nice to see a movie go for something edgy and different, to seek its own path toward a place original and meaningful.

Of course, the thing about taking chances is, sometimes it doesn't work out.

"Observe and Report" follows Seth Rogen's Ronnie, head of security at a mall being terrorized by a rotund, middle-aged, parking lot exhibitionist.

Ronnie devotes himself to catching the exhibitionist with the fervor of someone who has absolutely nothing else going on in his life. Ronnie's mom is a hopeless drunk, his only friends are his security guard subordinates, and the woman of his dreams, dim-bulb cosmetic counter beauty Anna Faris, is out of his league.

Ronnie convinces himself that all these problems will resolve themselves if only he can catch the exhibitionist.

Complicating matters is the presence of Ray Liotta as a police detective with a cursory interest in the case and a more-than-cursory interest in Anna Faris.

This is a good set up, and the first half hour is both engaging and funny, especially when Ronnie and his underlings tighten their grip on mall security, going so far as to brutally assault a large group of teenaged skateboarders.

Alas, the exhibitionist refuses to reappear, so the story takes a major detour as Ronnie pursues his ambition to become a police officer. This kills whatever momentum had been built up in the first act, and the story arc isn't nearly as funny or clever as its predecessor (despite a very funny scene where Ronnie confronts a group of hardened drug dealers led by recent comedy staple Danny McBride.) By the halfway point a strong sense of disappointment has set in. It only deepens.

Eventually Ronnie is fired from his job, rejected by the police and betrayed by love interest Farris. None of this is terribly funny, and much of it is somewhat disturbing, as Ronnie's voice-over takes on a delusional quality reminiscent of the ramblings of those unbalanced wack jobs who go on killing sprees when their life takes a bad turn. In fact, during this stretch I became concerned for the safety of everyone around Ronnie. The comedy had threatened to turn into a horror flick. Not a good idea at the seventy-five minute mark.

The plot, and Ronnie, are saved by the sudden return of the exhibitionist, but this has a deus ex machina feel and only contributes to the feeling that we are not witnessing the interaction of a man with his world, but rather a fever dream where fantasy steps in to replace reality whenever reality gets too unpleasant.

"Observe and Report," which has a title as opaque as the movie's ultimate intention, is an interesting experiment and deserves partial credit for effort. Unfortunately, partial credit is all it gets.


SCORE:

How Accomplished: 42/100

How Much I Enjoyed: 30/100

Review Title

Remember when Seth Rogen was still a chubby guy? Seems like he was much more likable back then compared to now when he’ slimmed down and just doesn’t seem like the same person, not to mention he isn’t as funny, for whatever reason. Observe and Report is a vehicle for Rogen in which he plays a mall security cop…excuse me, the head of mall security.
Does the premise sound vaguely familiar? Maybe you’re thinking of Paul Blart: Mall Cop? These are two totally different films, but they both have mall cops and were released roughly around the same time. How many film about mall cops can you name?
I didn’t love this film. Sure, it had some funny moments, and didn’t get all preachy/dramatic at the end the way so many comedies tend to do these days, but it just didn’t work for me. The jokes seemed a bit forced. Rogen comes off as annoying. There were parts of the film where I honestly thought he was behind some of the crimes or would turn out ot be the flasher. On top of that the ultra hot Anna Faris is wasted here. Sure, she’s a delicious piece of eye candy, but if you’re going to get a hot comedic actress like her to star in your picture, have the good sense to let her do her thing, not just sit there taking Tequila shots and looking like a racoon for most of her scenes.
There are countless other reasons I could list for why this film just isn’t that great and won’t be making any top lists of mine. Having said that, it’s not a total waste of time. I think if I were to watch it again, I may like it a little more, but as of this one viewing, I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m not trying to be a hater, but where Paul Blart: Mall Cop succeeded, Observe and Report fails.

http://thankyounetflix.wordpress.com

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