the plot

There is a male flasher who is terrorizing the female crowds at a mall in New Mexico.  Ronnie, the head of mall security is making it his mission to put a stop to this perverted menace, especially after Brandi, the cosmetics girl who Ronnie has a crush on was exposed to by the flasher.  Ronnie has a useless bunch of losers working for him on his team, so it's ultimately up to him to keep the mall safe. 

Ronnie has a psychological history with his continuing condition with a bipolar disorder, and he still lives at home to take care of his alcoholic mother.  He still has to pop his pills daily to keep his psychosis at bay, and the mall is his whole life. 

After the mall is robbed, and since the mall flasher is still on the prowl, a police detective named Dennis Harrison has come into the mall to investigate these crimes.  Ronnie feels that his territory and manhood has been invaded by this detective, and immediately takes a disliking to him. Detective Dennis is equally as annoyed with Ronnie for ruining his investigations with his insane wannabe police procedures. 

When Ronnie finally scores a date with the beautiful Brandi, he has a new confidence along with a new outlook on life.  He has the need to better himself and gives up taking his prescription and applies for the police academy.   But how can this possibly turn out with Ronnie off of his meds?  Is the love of a woman all he really needed?  Will Ronnie make a better cop than he did a security guard?  Find out when you watch Observe and Report on blu-ray. 


the breakdown

If I'm going to be honest here, the reason I was so interested to see this movie was because of the soundtrack.  I found out from a Queen fansite that Observe and Report had used some obscure classic Queen songs in the movie, and it seemed to excite them, so it had also excited me.  Also, I kind of enjoy the movies featuring Seth Rogen (Superbad, You Me & Dupree), so I figured it would be a win-win.  From the beginning, it was what I expected - an out of control script that lets the F-bomb liberally fly at will, and some gross scenes that would make me gag.  And it had all this, but it was pretty funny as well. 

One of my favorite moments comes from the very beginning of the film when Ronnie was interviewed by the local news about the mall flasher.  The reporter refers to Ronnie as "one of the security guards" and Ronnie then calls "Cut" and lets the reporter know that he is ‘head' of security. When she keeps going without making the correction or restarting the report, Ronnie says,"Ok, uh, well I'm standing here with this doctor.." to give her a taste of her own medicine.  It was very funny, as Ronnie's disposition and humor is unapologetic and very much in-your-face.   

Dennis Harrison, the detective is played by Ray Liotta (Goodfellas, Wild Hogs).  Liotta isn't as intense as some of his other roles, perhaps to take a backseat to Rogen's forceful character. His cop mannerisms though are dead on, very authentic.  Anna Faris (The House Bunny, The Hot Chick) is again the ditsy blonde, but also thrown in are healthy doses of low-life-drunken-party-girl, drama queen, and a whole lot of promiscuity.   Then there are also the newcomers Yuan twins who play the security guards Yuen twins who serve as a little bit more than the film's wallflowers. 

The film starts out kind of light aside from the powerful profanity, but then it kind of slips down a very slippery slope into one of the darkest comedies I've ever seen.  I noticed that I had stopped laughing a little more than half way through, as it turned more into a dim and sinister yarn.  When we find out that Ronnie has a serious mental disorder, I start feeling sad for the character knowing that he is like this because of a disease not just to be strangely funny.  His mother's life of perpetual drunkenness seemed OK and funny in the beginning, but after we see her pass out cold, it's like a slap-in-the-face wake up call to observe yet another social disease up close. 

The fact that the second half is less funny doesn't really take away from the film's allure, because I was still very drawn into the movie.  Yet it is difficult to detect how the film makes me feel about it after it's over.  There seems to be shocking and surprising events, one after the other, as we race toward the end of the film, and it's a lot to take in. 

If there needed to be a saving grace here, (although I don't think it did need any saving), there were two amazing Queen songs that were used quite prominently in the movie.  It's Late from the 1977 News of the Word album was played twice, and almost all of The Hero from the Flash Gordon Soundtrack was used.  I'm not sure how the casual viewer would feel about the soundtrack, but Queen fans could do nothing but praise Observe and Report because of it, and the reason I'm here in the first place. 

The movie is not for kids, and I would suggest not for viewers in the mood for a light comedy.  This is about as dark as it gets.  Expect a lot of profanity, lots of male nudity, some female nudity and also a lot of violence.  I wish someone would have prepared me for this film; I may have had a different appreciation for it. 
Be prepared. 


Observe and Report
Directed by: Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way)
Written by: Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way)
Starring: Seth Rogen, Ray Liotta, Anna Faris, Michael Pena (World Trade Center)
Rated: R (for graphic language, graphic nudity, graphic violence)
Length: 86 minutes
Released: April 10th, 2009
Rating: 3 ½   stars
 

Viewing Format:
blu-ray

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age