Directed by: Jody Hill
Starring: Seth Rogen, Ray Liotta, Michael Pena, Ana Faris, Collette Wolfe
Other Actors of Note: Danny McBride
Plot: Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective, is recruited to close the case.
Every once in a while a movie comes out that just doesn't fit into the mainstream market and on these things I'm torn. I'm glad because more non-traditional movies deserve the big screen treatment but I'm also annoyed because you can't sell a non-traditional film as what it is, so you get a bunch of people who don't understand where the movie is coming from that don't enjoy the film and sadly that side is usually populated with a lot of whiny fuckheads with imdb forum accounts.
I've seen these moments when movies like "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "In Bruges", and "Slither" came out. I found all these movies brilliant but some people just didn't really get them, expecting the cookie-cutter bullshit they're used to. So I understand why you don't like this movie and I respect your opinion.
That said, you can all go fuck yourselves, this movie was great!
With that out of my system, let's proceed. "Observe and Report" tells the tale of Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) a tubby 30-something loser with nothing to his name save the massive chip on his shoulder. Ronnie is the head of security at a shopping mall and like any security guard he thinks he's Judge Dredd.
When a serial flasher assaults the shopping mall at the same time as a string of robberies, Ronnie sees this as an oppurtunity to beat his rival, Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), win the woman of his dreams, Brandi (Anna Faris), and become what he's always dreamed of being. A hero.
Naturally Ronnie eats his share of shit sandwhiches when he approaches Brandi, tries to solve his cases, and attempts to become a member of the police force. We slowly watch Ronnie deteriorate into a complete lunatic and have a complete mental and nervous breakdown.
And it is hilarious!
I now take back every bad thing I've ever said about Seth Rogen. On the surface you're looking at Seth Rogen as the same character he's played in every movie he's been in ever, but if you stay on the surface the latter half of the movie will be really messed up for you.
Rogen successfully plays a character that's already unstable at the beginning of the movie but slowly turns into an absolute nutcase as the movie progresses. The thing is that Rogen's so likable that you don't immediately see the warning signs and the change is so subtle that once he's there it comes as a shock. For all intents and purposes Ronnie Barnhart is Travis Bickle and he plays it much more subtly than DeNiro ever would have.
There are a lot of early moments in the movie that the audience seemed to take as typical comedy fair that didn't quite sit right with me. This all culminated at the film's turning point where you find out that unlike most audacious losers, Ronnie is actually frighteningly capable of backing up his ideals and while many found this moment triumphant, I found it fucking terrifying. Nothing is more frightening than a mentally unstable person with a false sense of authority and the means to enforce it.
Anna Faris has finally found a role in a movie that doesn't suck ass and while she doesn't get much time to shine, she makes use of what she gets. Brandi is every shallow skanky bitch you have ever known and the part is played impeccably. She's an easy character to despise and a definitive cause of Ronnie's eventual breakdown. If anything, this film could've used more Anna Faris.
When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was dissappointed to see Ray Liotta was in this movie. Sure he can be a good actor but for every "NARC" we have to sit through 3 "In The Name of the Kings," fortunately this manages to fall in the former category with one of Liotta's finer performances. Liotta forms a nice foil for Ronnie in that this man is as much of a sadist as Ronnie is a delusional sociopath. One particular scene he leaves Ronnie in an area where he knows more than likely that he will get killed just because he's annoying him and it was those small touches that made him a more than capable villain to the piece.
I'm still torn on Michael Pena's performance. On one hand, Pena does a straight up send-up of a classic John Leguizamo character. On the other hand, I don't think this was done on purpose. Pena has proven to be a very capable actor in "Shooter" and "Crash" but I couldn't help feeling like his aping of Leguizamo was less parody and more lack of effort. No less, Pena manages to be very funny, if albeit a bit over-the-top and clich'e.
Now allow me to support my point here. This movie is "Taxi Driver" re-written as a comedy and if taken as that you kind of start to get the idea. Rogen's likability kind of clouds the fact that this is not a likable or admirable man and it's not until he's already super-crazy that this point really comes across. I was debating this with another person that Ronnie was crazy even from the beginning, she said that it was at the halfway point when he was taking his medication that he "went" crazy.
But I disagree, you can see in his actions and words that Ronnie thinks he's the hero of this story and his monologues only seem to support this fact. His obsession with catching this pervert pushes the man over the edge and when he doesn't make it as a police officer it becomes his very goal and you can tell he will go to any cost to become the hero he envisions himself as.
The entire movie is a trainwreck of one low after another where Ronnie goes from mostly harmless, to delusional, to predatory, unstable, and flat out insane. And the beauty of the whole thing is that by the time the credits roll, just like Travis Bickle before him he doesn't get that swift kick in the ass from reality. He gets validated, vindicated, and even praised. He becomes the hero, and it's both frightening and humorous at the same time.
Next I want to touch on something that everybody's been getting on their soapboxes about. There is an instance of date rape in this film. I should say that the word "rape" should be used rather lightly as it's only technically rape. What happens is Ronnie takes Brandi out on a date and after drinking like 15 shots of tequila and taking all of Ronnie's pills (which she asks him for and proceeds to eat like they're m&ms.) It should be noted that Brandi is conscious and consentual for this encounter, she's just blasted out of her fucking gourd. This has prompted many people, especially feminist groups, to go up in arms about how in bad taste this is.
Okay, let's think for a moment here. In "Beerfest" a man is so intoxicated that he goes home with what he thinks is some sort of super-model like woman and then proceeds to have rough nasty sex with a large vaguely abusive woman, this is portrayed as funny. In "A History of Violence" Viggo Mortensen rapes his wife, this is portrayed as beautific. In "High Plains Drifter" Clint Eastwood rapes a woman, this is portrayed as vindicative. And in my favorite example, in "40 Days and 40 Nights" Josh Hartnett is raped by a vengeful ex-girlfriend and then his current love interest walks in on this and breaks up with him for "cheating on her" and he APOLOGIZES! So you know what? Get the fuck off your goddamn soap-box, I'm not going to hear any arguments about what is technically rape when the "victim" was awake and consenting to the act and yes she's intoxicated but Ronnie didn't make her drink herself stupid or swallow the pills.
Not to mention the date rape is kinda the point. Ronnie has a skewed perception of reality where he's the man, why should he think that the fact that she's drunk is the only reason she would want to sleep with him? When she doesn't move he actually does stop and ask if she's alright to which she replies "Why are you stopping, motherfucker?" and he goes back to work. In his mind Ronnie is doing the "right" thing, of course it's not, but that's because he's fucking delusional! DUH! Ronnie is not a character to be admired and respected, he's a fucking anti-hero you stupid tits!
One other point I wanted to touch on is the fight scenes. There are three fight scenes in this movie and they are all coreographed beautifully. They're gritty, violent, and the best part is they seem natural and not rehearsed. The big fight scene toward the end of the film that pits Ronnie against about 20 police officers with nothing but a mag-lite is more than reminiscent on "Oldboy's" famous hammer scene down to the continous flowing shot as the protagonist fights off waves of attackers.
While this review has been nothing but praise I want to make the point that this is not a perfect movie. Some of the scenes fall flat, and a lot of the jokes at the beginning aren't very funny, not to mention Seth Rogen's likability hurts the audience's ability to see what kind of a character he is from the beginning which makes the mid-film point incredibly jarring which I felt hurt it. I am not part of the crowd that thinks this movie should be nominated for an Oscar, it's not that good and I certainly see and clearly understand why people don't like it. This is just a movie that's too indie for its own good. What it is is funny, dark, thrilling and just a damned entertaining movie that requires perspective for optimal watching.
I know a lot of people are divided on this but I firmly hope to see more well-thought-out dark intelligent comedies like this in the future. Though this movie has cult classic written all over it. Don't expect "Paul Blart 2: Blart Harder", this is something entirely different. And you know what, if you don't like it then I'll take this movie and keep it up on a pedestal of truly unappreciated and great films like "The Cable Guy" and "The Ladykillers" that I truly appreciate while you stupid cunts miss the point. Me and the other people who enjoy these are gonna continue to praise them for years to come.
All six of us!
I give "Observe and Report" a 5 out of 5. Fuck the haters.
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