CinePhillyist Reviews ... Observe and Report

Several of the characters in Observe and Report haunted the mall when I had a part-time job there 13 years ago: the morning walkers, the lost souls, the horny make-up counter attendant, the dirty old men who sized up teenagers in the food court. I even felt a little nostalgic during the opening sequence, when head security guard Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) watches customers, salespeople, and loiterers cruise the corridors. But then, the camera cuts to the parking lot, where an ugly little man wearing nothing but a trench coat runs around pointing to his penis. Yes, we see the penis. More than a few times.

And so we have the plot of the film: mall security guard needs to stop flasher. Despite Ronnie’s best efforts, he cannot keep the pervert from disturbing Brandi, his beauty-counter crush (Anna Faris), and he cannot keep the police away from what he considers “his” investigation. When one Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) questions the purpose of mall cops, Ronnie decides to prove his law enforcement skills by becoming a real police officer. Not only does the application process test Ronnie’s manhood, but it also puts him on the path to self knowledge. Only then, upon finding comfort in his own skin, can Ronnie successfully serve the public and discover an unexpected love.

The movie features Rogen in some hilarious exchanges—one shouting match between his character and a kiosk manager left me in tears. However, viewers who expect anything more than a slapstick look at mall subculture will be disappointed.

We’ve come to love the Apatow family and their character studies of underdogs. Observe and Report, though, has a creepy edge. Full-frontal male nudity may have scored Jason Segel funny points in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but director Jody Hill’s insistence on camera-chasing a pervert’s penis towards the end of this film falls short of funny. And while most of us have mocked how seriously mall security guards take themselves, Liotta’s Detective Harrison badgering is relentless—mean, even, especially when we learn that Ronnie has bipolar disorder and had many special needs as a child. More disturbing is a questionable date rape scene. Rogen plays Ronnie as a character with a strong sense of justice, but he doesn’t have a problem taking Brandi to bed after giving her a bunch of pills that send her into semi-consciousness. It’s obvious that filmmakers are competing more for shock value, but what happens when too many pranks overwhelm a comedy? The characters appear desensitized, and the underdog becomes unlikable.

Image Credit: Internet Movie Poster Awards.