Surely there can’t be a comedy to play in cinemas this year that’s more distasteful or more irritating than Observe and Report. The film should come with a warning and a bar of soap to clean yourself with. A “comedy” about a fascist, psychotic mall cop’s desire to become a proper police officer, Observe and Report is a film desperately trying to find its identity—much like its main character Ronnie Barnhardt, played by Seth Rogen, in a role that plays against type. Jody Hill, the writer and director, calls Taxi Driver as the influence for Observe and Report, and while the potential to mix that Scorsese classic with a edgier version of Paul Blart: Mall Cop sounds like a good idea in theory, the execution is woefully incompetent and misses the mark. The film moves from moments of dark and broad comedy, to grotesque violence, sadomasochism, and at one point, to an implied rape fantasy. How a film this schizophrenic is supposed to be funny is beyond this reviewer’s understanding.
The basic plot setup is straightforward. Ronnie must find out who is flashing women in the parking lot of local mall. In trying to solve the case, Ronnie encroaches on the territory of Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta). Thinking that this could be his shot at the big time, Ronnie assembles a ragtag collection of other mall security officers into a posse hell bent on protecting the mall’s shoppers. This collection of characters include two Chinese twins who have a penchant for firearms (John and Matt Yuen), and a spaced-out Hispanic (Michael Peña) who may or may not be robbing the mall after hours. When not generally skewering a smorgasbord of racial stereotypes and women, Ronnie patrols the mall hoping for an opportunity to leave the mall’s security detail and land a regular gig as a police officer. By his own admission, Ronnie wants to be a cop so he can carry a gun and shoot people. Luckily for the police force, and, I might add, the audience, he repeatedly fails the psychology tests and is barred from becoming a cop. Of course, this turns the manic and bipolar Ronnie into an even more absurd and hateful characters towards the end. Ronnie’s absurd personality is magnified by Hill’s complete disregard for a consistent tone. Instead, Hill careens from one end of the spectrum to the other end, leaving the film lifeless and uneven. At times, it appears sweet and conventional as it sets up a subplot of a lonely, sweet girl trying to win the affections of Ronnie. At other times, it turns into a satirical look at crime and punishment, with Ronnie attacking and nearly killing a group of drug dealers. As for the romantic subplot, Ronnie misses Nell’s (Collette Wolfe) advances because of his blind infatuation with the local hussy, Brandi (played wonderfully by Anna Faris in the film’s most memorable and grotesquely realistic role). Ultimately, there is no straight man in a comedy this weird for the audience to sympathize with. All we’re left with are a group of characters that range from irritating to downright frightening. If you’re planning to spend two hours in a theatre with a cast of characters this miserable, I don’t want to know you.
Richard Saad
© Cinephile Magazine, 2009