Not what you expect
Added 11/15/2009
This is a gret film from Jody Hill, "Foot Fist Way" and HBO's "Eastbound and Down". The cast fits perfectly and Seth Rogen takes on a new kind of humor as the lead. I highly recommend seeing this film.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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3.5 stars for the movie + half for the use of McLusky
Added 11/11/2009
Many mainstream comedies flirt with edginess, but underneath all the bad language and sexuality are actually pretty toothless, filled with characters who are generally harmless goofballs and experiences that aren't too far outside of most people's frame of reference. Observe and Report is not one of these movies--instead, it's the rare big-studio comedy that actually flirts with a legitimate sense of menace, from its frequently creepy and unbalanced protagonist to the occasional outbreaks of bluntly portrayed violence to the generally depraved behavior that fills much of its efficient run time. I've read in a few places that writer/director Jody Hill was partly inspired by Taxi Driver in making this movie, and after a couple of viewings it makes perfect sense, as Observe and Report is filled with the same pessimistic worldview, punctuated by all-too rare examples of nobility, that characterized Scorcese's classic. Much like Hill's criminally underappreciated HBO series Eastbound and Down, the movie mines considerable laughs from discomfort and embarrassment, and sheer inappropriateness, as well as from the gap between how people view themselves and how the rest of the world views them. It's certainly not the best comedy ever made, but it is a testament to how much can be wrung out of a loaded cast and a few memorable scenes.
The movie takes place in a world frighteningly close to our own in its abundance of generally angry and unsatisfied people, and leading the way is Seth Rogen's revelatory performance as Ronnie Barnhardt, an amusingly unhinged mall security chief and aspiring cop whose view of himself and his job contrasts sharply with that of pretty much everyone around him. It would be an understatement to say Ronnie is the antithesis of Rogen's usual pot-smoking slacker persona--Ronnie would probably soundly beat such a character if given the opportunity. The change in this case is for the better though: if anything, Rogen's general cluelessness and occasionally scary intensity are even more amusing than the air of slacker-ish indifference he's cultivated so often in the past. Ronnie is Travis Bickle transplanted to a bland suburban nightmare, trying to find excitement and adventure in a landscape characterized more by overwhelming banality, pettiness, and tedium. At the same time, though, as it goes on the movie does raise the question of whether it's Ronnie who's crazy, or the world around him. After all, Ronnie may be an unstable, delusional gun nut, but he doesn't take part in the backstabbing, deception, and outright cruelty that we regularly see among numerous other characters. Ronnie is actually a firm believer in romance and chivalry, even if the former involves having sex with an extremely inebriated makeup-counter girl and the latter involves beating and threatening the mean-spirited boss of a coffeeshop employee he's befriended.
Playing the Cybil Shepherd to Rogen's buffoonish De Niro, Anna Faris manages to find a role worthy of her comic talents as Brandi, the object of Ronnie's affections, a drunken, pill-popping cosmetics-counter worker who shows little interest in Ronnie until she finds him to be a reliable source of booze and prescription drugs. When Brandi sees more than she'd like to of a portly serial flasher who's been traumatizing women in the mall parking lot, it gives Ronnie the perfect opportunity to mix one unhealthy obsession with another as he tries to reduce by one the number of perverts in the world and get closer to the girl of his dreams in the process. Ronnie's investigation also earns him a worthy nemesis in the form of Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), the cynical cop assigned to the case who does not share Ronnie's passion for justice, at least not as applies to relatively minor cases involving parking-lot flashers. In addition to providing some quality comic fodder, the ongoing clash between Ronnie and Harrison highlights a great deal of what makes Ronnie a sympathetic character despite his occasionally psychotic behavior--in a world filled with people who skate by at work and look out for number one, Ronnie does care, even if it's a little too much. The movie does actually allow Ronnie to experience some catharsis and personal growth as it goes along, even if his newfound sense of self does little to dull his more aggressive tendencies.
Those looking for focus and tight plotting would be well advised to look elsewhere--even at a mere 90 minutes or so the movie starts to sag a bit towards the end--but when it devotes itself to its twisted character study and Office Space-style slice-of-life comedy Observe and Report functions more than well enough. At times it's almost impressionistic, relying on a series of montages and hilarious single shots and a great soundtrack (the use of McLusky's Lightsabre C---sucking Blues is especially appreciated) where dialogue wouldn't suffice to get its themes across. It also helps a great deal to have great comic actors like Michael Pena, Patton Oswalt, Danny McBride, and Aziz Ansari turning their supporting roles into memorable characters in their own right and keeping the proceedings amusing even when they're not really proceeding anywhere. Overall Observe and Report boasts a strong mix of dark humor, character development, and flat-out wrongness that should appeal nicely to those put off by more mainstream comedy. While by no means uniformly brilliant, it's definitely worthy of a look.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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New King of Comedy
Added 11/5/2009
Not to say that writer/director Jody Hill is the new Scorscese (he's not), but I was constantly reminded of Scorscese's early 80s disturbo-comedy "King of Comedy" when watching this. Whereas Scorscese uses stark realism, though, Hill uses the conventions and expectations of modern comedy to nail us. This could have easily been another crude and rude comedy along the lines of Superbad or Pineapple Express. Those (hell, most) comedies made today feature borderline-sociopathic, emotionally-retarded, and hopelessly immature males. Hill simply tips his characters over the edge. There is no denying that Ronnie (Seth Rogan) is a full-blown psychopath. What's surprising is how close this character is to every other character Seth Rogan has ever played!
Your reaction to this film will be greatly effected by your expectations. If you expect an extremely dark, yet often silly, film instead of yet another "Superbad" or, god forbid, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop", you should not be disappointed in the least.
3 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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too real to be funny. it was just sad.
Added 11/4/2009
so i was set up for a moderate comedy... i didn't expect much, but i expected to be amused.
i wasn't.
the displays in the film were not funny, they were sad.
being bipolar is not a joke.
neither is making fun of people who chose to work in a mall because they can't find other work.
or being an alcoholic or drug addict.
the movie was graphic... the drug scene was disgusting,
anna faris was the best part, and still, i have met the kind of girl she plays and it is just plain sad.
i would NEVER EVER recommend this film.
this film made "Paul Blart Mall Cop" look like a quality piece.
0 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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A "stellar" dark comedy? I think not.
Added 11/3/2009
Someone needs to tell these filmmakers that a "dark comedy" does not entail a lot of really explicit violence (!), frontal (male) nudity and swearing!
After all the hype and some good reviews in the press I thought I'd give it a try, since I've enjoyed some of Rogen's work in the past - but approached it with some reservations because for instance "Zack & Miri Make A Porno" and "Pineapple Express" (Rogen's previous starring roles) were complete disasters.
All in all, this left me feeling annoyed and in anxiety, uneasy even. A few mild chuckles, but that's IT. An incredibly weak effort.
Also - Anna Faris, who used to have a cute "girl next door" type look, has apparently also succumbed to the pressures of being insecure in Hollywood, and proceeded to get what looks like a seriously botched overblown lip job. So bad in fact, that I found it difficult to watch her without feeling queasy.
I also couldn't help but feel BAD for Ray Liotta (I know I shouldn't, I'm sure he received a hefty paycheck for his efforts) who seemed completely lost in this turkey and played his standard detective role on auto pilot.
For GOOD dark comedy go towards the British Isles: "Hot Fuzz" (film) or "The League Of Gentlemen" (BBC tv series), for example.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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NOT FUNNY!
Added 11/21/2009
This is what Hollywood is calling humor these days? Must of been written by the lowly out of work writers during their strike! Crude, demeaning and a waste of my time!
1 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Flash in the pan
Added 11/20/2009
The term "Flash in the pan" means "something that promises pure potential but fails". That, unfortunately is "Funny People". When I saw the trailer, I was excited to see the movie. But then I saw the movie. I'll get to the point since Amazon apparently has a word limit:
-The whole "Dying comedian" plot. Andy Kaufman would roll his eyes it was so stupid. It's basically like a fictional version of Andy Kaufman's life.
-The Eminem cameo was so out of place it was unbearable. He did great at acting in "8 Mile", but what he doesn't seem to know is that it was a one time deal!!!!
-Too many [...] jokes.
-The movie was so depressing that how it got called a "comedy" beats me. Is this seriously the best Apatow has to offer after stellar movies like "Anchorman" and "Pineapple Express"????
-Too long for what it was, but not long enough for the amount of material crammed into it. The movie basically ends at like 1 hour and 40 minutes, however the rest seems like a 45 minute after-the-credits sequence but placed before the credits. I am not lying, I thought it was over so many times. It was like the movie ended and the sequel already began.
-It's not a movie, it's a drinking game. Adam Sandler makes a [...] joke? Take a drink. Depressing "Yadayadaboohoo" about being sick? Take a drink. You won't last before the end of the movie though, so be warned.
There's loads more but I'm just cringing thinking about it. Rogen is basically the highlight of this otherwise overlong and depressing movie. So I guess the two star nod goes for Rogen alone.
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Not a entirely a comedy
Added 11/19/2009
I am big fan of Judd Apatow's work. i went into this hearing that its not like his other movies, that it has a more somber, serious tone. so my expectations were tempered. I liked it, i do agree with some other reviewers that it was probably a little too long, which is why I take off one star. But if you go in knowing this isnt a 40 year old virgin/knocked up style comedy then you wont be disappointed. with that being said, i can see why some people rated this poorly if thats what they thought they were going to see going in.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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