Observe and Report

Observe and Report is a movie that I believe suffers from an identity crisis. On one hand it, it tries to be a sillier version of Taxi Driver. And on the other side, it tries to be a dark twin of Paul Blart, Mall Cop. So what exactly is it? Well, I'm not really sure. And I do not believe director Jody Hill is really sure either. I do know for sure that Observe and Report is one of the zanier movies I've seen in quite a while. It's a twisted film, sometimes in a very dark way, and sometimes in a very witty way. And it is this mash-up of genres and styles that hurts the movie overall.

Seth Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, a security officer at a large shopping mall. Ronnie takes his position very seriously. Very very very seriously. He has a small team of officers that work under him and when a serial streaker targets the mall, it is up to Ronnie and his crew to take him down. Seemingly by any means necessary.

Rogen stretches his acting chops a bit here, and it is interesting to see. But it is the always changing style and focus of the movie that wastes Rogen's effort. Consider my two favorite scenes in the movie: The first is Rogen taking out a group of drug pushers. It is full of blood and violence, and is shocking seeing Rogen beating up the dealers with such force. Now couple it with an earlier exchange between Rogen and new popular comedian Aziz Ansari at Ansari's kiosk. They exchange "F--- you" over and over again in a variety of styles and tones. Two great scenes from very opposite ends of the spectrum. But the middle ground between the two scenes is not very good at all. In fact, the film shifts so suddenly between comedy and dark drama that it is jarring at times to watch.

And we are presented with so much to take in with the main plot and sub-plots. There is Ronnie's alcoholic mother, Ray Liotta as the serious police officer, all the females that Ronnie looks after, the streaker, and Ronnie's security force. Ronnie also battles the police, his boss, his co-workers, his girlfriend, drug dealers, Ansari, and pretty much everyone else who enter the mall. It's no wonder that he starts to lose his mind a little. I started to by the end. Then there is Ronnie breaking a serious law at the end of the movie with a handgun. Again it is very jarring to see. I didn't expect him to do anything remotely like that. But Hill uses it to basically set everything back the way it was at the beginning of the movie. Which felt very forced to me.

There are some good scenes in Observe and Report. But they are lost amid the bedlam that Jody Hill has strung together. I know Hill is one of the creative forces behind Danny McBride's Eastbound and Down series. I hope that series and his first film, The Foot Fist Way, serve as a better representation of his work.

Grade: C-