Observe and Report
Review
by Anthony Morris
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Seth Rogen gets creepy
in Observe & Report | 
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In Observe and Report Seth Rogen plays a shopping mall security guard... and already you've got totally the wrong idea about this film.
But who could blame you?
We've already had Paul Blart : Mall Cop come out and tell us that mall security guards are funny, likeable failures who mean well.
And Seth Rogen is the guy you go to for the burly, likeable guy who sometimes gets the girl but always gets the laughs.
So
clearly this is going to be yet another fun, lightweight comedy about a
loveable loser who faces a few challenges but end up on top,
right?
Well, kinda.
Rogen does play a
loser, but Ronnie Barnhardt is more of a violent, creepy, foul-mouthed
mentally unbalanced loser who in real life you would run like hell to
get away from before he decided he had to take you down.
And
for those who feel Rogen has settled into a bit of a rut where he plays
basically the same nice guy over and over, the air of barely restrained
menace and hostility he projects here (while still somehow being
likeable and funny) will come as a pleasant surprise.
And
this is a film full of surprises, most of which are of the shocking and
appalling variety as Ronnie's one-man war against the flasher lurking
in the mall carpark combines with his love for trashy party girl who
runs the mall's beauty stall (Anna Faris) and the hostility of a local
detective (Ray Liotta) to slowly and carefully tear his life and sanity
apart.
To be clear, this is NOT Paul Blart 2.
In
fact, some of this film's most memorable scenes are the ones where
you'll be sitting there thinking "did I really just see that?".
Director Jody Hill has made a bit of a name for himself with coarse, white-trash comedy (get a friend to download HBO series Eastbound and Down for you) and this film takes that approach about as far as you currently can in a film.
The
tone is a little uneven and not every single scene works, but there's
more than enough jaw-dropping moments here to make this a film you
won't easily forget.
Even the parts you might want to... 3 out
of 5
Observe and Report
Australian release: 14th May, 2009
Official
Site: Observe and Report
Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta, Michael Pena, Collette Wolfe, Jesse Plemons
Director: Jody Hill
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