Observe and Report came to theatres last spring and went away quickly. I never got a chance to see it, and wasn't sure about it, it had subpar reviews and the general consensus seemed largely negative. It also didn't help having a terrible marketing campaign that falsely led audiences to believe this would be some sort of light Mall Cop comedy.However, after renting it, I can safely say, this was one of the better comedies to be released in 2009. Writer/director Jody Hill's previous credits include The Foot Fist Way starring Danny McBride, which I have not seen but seems to have a nice cult audience. He also has a TV show also starring Danny McBride called Eastbound & Down, I have not seen it yet but I'm curious about it. I find it Interesting to note that Danny McBride was supposed to star in Observe and Report but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, and in the end only got a cameo. I think that if McBride had been in the lead role, this film would have stood a better chance, or at least I think people would have a better idea of what they were in for.

Observe and Report is a dark comedy. It is not light and happy, it is hilarious, but the humor it uses is very dark. In this day and age, if you want to make something dark, un-PC, and generally just do what you want to do, that film better be cheap as hell to make. Observe and Report breaks rules all over the place and goes into absurdly dark territory, and still managed to have a 20 million budget and didn't have a lot of studio interference. I find this very impressive and while this film didn't make a huge profit due to a horrible marketing campaign, it still managed to make back its budget, plus a little more. Hopefully this means studios will be taking more risks for films like this.

Observe and Report stars Seth Rogen in the lead, he is Ronnie Barnthardt, head of Mall Security at a local Mall. He takes his job very seriously and leads team composing of two gun loving Asian twins, John and Matt Yuen, his number two, Dennis, and the up and comer Charles. At work, Ronnie hits on Brandi, a pretty girl who works behind the makeup counter, and routinely gets a coffee from Nell, a sweet girl working at the food court that has a cast on and is mocked by her boss. The plot starts off with a pervert flashing people in the parking lot. Ronnie is right on the case, but the Manager of the mall, Mark has decided to bring on a detective, Detective Harrison. Ronnie complicates the case for Harrison who is not pleased with him. Ronnie tries becoming a cop which he fails, because of his bi-polar disorder, he also gets a date with Brandi, and through it all, Ronnie brings the pervert to justice.

It may sound like a really thin plot, and while it might be, it is a Mall cop movie so you kind of have to take what you get. The plot doesn't exactly drive the movie, but a lot happens. Ronnie is the main driving force behind the movie. It may help to think of this movie as a comedic version of Taxi Driver, if he was just in a mall. There are several parallels to be found, and I think works. Ronnie is a fairly complex character, for a comedy at least. He has several mental disorders, the most prevalent being his bi-polar, he can't really read people and gets the wrong idea a lot. It is a bit heavy handed sometimes and the humor feels that way a result, I wouldn't call this a bad thing, the humor is also very dark, absurdly dark to some degree. There is a throwaway line that Seth Rogen has, where he causally mentions that there are six dead drug dealers he just killed. It comes off like nothing, the flow of the movie isn't lost, it just seems natural for it, and a lot of scenes tend to do that. I think for the purposes of the movie it works, it works brilliantly. A lot of people might not agree, it failed to resonate with a lot of audiences, but for some reason I think it works brilliantly. The end of the climax is unexpected and hilarious, and very dark, but I think it also serves as a critique on the way we as a society view violence and sex.

The acting is great, Seth Rogen doesn't play for his usual audience; don't expect weed jokes or immature humor like that. He pulls it off, and it's a good thing otherwise this movie would have been in trouble. He is an inherently unlikable character, for most movies, this would mean disaster, and I'm still not sure why it works here. As a viewer, we have to like our protagonist, so when a film breaks the rules and gives us an unlikable one, it usually means failure, not here, here it works, maybe it's the incredibly dark humor that also works. Perhaps Danny McBride was better suited for the role, but I think Seth Rogen fills it in nicely. Ray Liotta gets the Detective Harrison role, and he does a nice job of playing it straight. However, the supporting cast was easily one of the best things about the movie. Anna Farris, who is mainly known for the "Scary Movies" couldn't have been better as Brandi. She is ditzy, a bi*ch, an alcoholic and partier, and generally not a good person. She plays it perfectly, getting laughs when there needs to be, having us hate her, and getting an odd sense of sympathy for her. Michael Pena who is known for more serious roles, plays the comic relief in the film, and he sure succeeds with it. Every line he has is funny, mostly because of the way he says it but even still, his performance is awesome. Twi brother John and Matt Yuen, are great, getting laughs with their identical facial expressions and have an odd fascination with guns. Everyone else is pretty good, and Patton Oswalt gets a welcome cameo as the jerk boss.

Another great part about the film is the soundtrack. It has a nice mix of oldies and new songs. A few lesser known Queen songs show up, some funky 70's music groves along, and some ridiculous new music is here. It all comes together nicely. One thing that is quite impressive is how effectively the climax utilizes a cover of the Pixies "Where is my Mind". Not since Fight Club has that song been used to such an effect. The whole soundtrack is great and adds a lot to the film.

I hope Observe and Report is able to find a wider audience now that it is out on dvd. I get why it did not work in theatres, the marketing was very misleading, there was another mall cop movie out, it was too dark, and it just did not work with a lot of people. I thought it was great, easily one of the most underrated comedies of 2009, check it out, if you can take the dark humor and story. The jokes are funny, the whole mom relationship, while fairly predictable still had some laughs, the supporting cast gave a lot to the humor, and it even had a happy ending, almost in complete contrast with the rest of the film. So, give it a try, you might like it, defiantly not for everyone but for those who enjoy the humor will most likely find it hilarious. At least I did.

4.5 stars rounded up

Cast

Seth Rogen... Ronne Barnheardt

Ray Liotta... Detective Harrison

Anna Farris ... Brandi

Michael Pena... Dennis

Collete Wolf... Nell

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age