Observe and Report

Observe and Report

Seth Rogen is outstanding as a mentally disturbed security guard. I haven’t seen Paul Blart yet, but it is safe to say that this will be the better Mall Cop movie.

Observe and Report is certainly one of Rogen’s best performances to date. Just like "Eastbound & Down" and The Foot Fist Way, director Jody Hill has made an unlikable character into someone we can almost cheer for. I have to stress almost. You will feel sorry for the guy a certain points. Then, he does some things that are so mean spirited and stupid that you will also hate the guy.

A flasher runs around a mall flashing at women and Rogen’s Ronnie Barnhardt must put a stop to the flasher. He falls in love with the makeup lady at one of the department stores (Anna Faris). He also has dreams of joining the police force.

What really works is that Rogen’s character has no clue that he is considered a joke outside the mall. The police see him a huge joke. Inside the mall, he is a hero. The people that work under him look up to him.

Every scene with his mother and him in it is funny. His mother is drug and alcohol user. She mumbles and stumbles along while trying to cheer up Seth.

The writing is dark, funny and touching at times. The story does go off on these strange side stories that do connect to the overall story. One side story has Ronnie becoming a dark undercover superhero that narrates his thoughts while he walks around pretending to be a Batman type of character. It doesn’t end well for the superhero Ronnie.

The scatterbrain story-telling will turn some people off. Normal audiences will not like the like violence, drug use and sex that this movie has. Did I mention the prolonged scene of male nudity? Yes, we are treated to at least a 9-minute scene of male nudity. It not only disgusted me, but it made me laugh. Even though there are some uncomfortable things going on in the movie, the filmmakers handle the balance. But, this isn’t a mainstream comedy like Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

I really enjoyed this violent and disturbing comedy.

Grade B+The invisible shotgun is nice except the shells are invisible too. It makes it impossible to reload.

____________________________________________________

Observe II: Mall Cop vs. Mallrats
__________________________________________

Seth: "Listen, they're making another Scary Movie and you will be in it. Don't cry about."