Observe and Report (2009)

Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective, is recruited to close the case.

Director:

Jody Hill

Writer:

Jody Hill

Stars:

Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Seth Rogen	...	Ronnie
Ray Liotta	...	Detective Harrison
Michael Peña	...	Dennis
Anna Faris	...	Brandi
Dan Bakkedahl	...	Mark
Jesse Plemons	...	Charles
John Yuan	...	John Yuen
Matt Yuan	...	Matt Yuen (as Matthew Yuan)
Celia Weston	...	Mom
Collette Wolfe	...	Nell
Randy Gambill	...	Flasher
Alston Brown	...	Bruce
Cody Midthunder	...	D-Rock
Debra-Jayne Brown	...	Female Reporter
Aziz Ansari	...	Saddamn

Storyline

Ronnie Barnhardt lives with his alcoholic mother. He's chief security guard at Forest Ridge Mall, where he's in love with Brandi, a cosmetic sales clerk, and gets a free coffee each day from Nell, a cheery clerk in the food court. A flasher haunts the mall's parking lot, and at night, thefts occur. Ronnie is intent on catching the criminals but has no investigative skills, is delusional about his abilities, and makes mad accusations. His bête noire is Detective Harrison, the city cop sent to investigate. Ronnie thinks he could be an officer, thinks he stands a chance with Brandi, and slowly loses his self control. Will reality set in? What about redemption?

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Plot Keywords:

mall | flasher | security guard | police detective | bi polar | 

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Taglines:

Right now, the world needs a hero.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

18A

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 2009 (Canada)

Also Known As:

A szerv

Filming Locations:

Bosque Farms, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£326,749 (UK) (24 April 2009)

Gross:

$23,993,605 (USA) (12 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Line Pictures, Legendary Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warner Bros. was concerned about the dark subject matter and demanded the production team come up with a "lighter, softer" version of the film. It wasn't until test audiences gave the edited version poorer test scores than the original version that Warner Bros. let them release the film in its original form.

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Goofs

When Brandi is driving her car right before the pervert assaults her at the parking area, you can clearly see the spoiler move.

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Quotes

Mom: I know it's hard, but try to look on the bright side. You may not be the smartest person in the world, but you're... handsome from certain angles and you're... More importantly, you've got dreams inside of you and dreams make you special. And no matter what the world, um, throws at you, uh, they - it can never take your dreams away.
Ronnie Barnhardt: What are you talking about, Mom?
Mom: I don't know, I'm drunk.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Mall Madness (2010)

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Soundtracks

Sittin' Back Easy
Written by Ollie Halsall (as Olly Halsall) and Mike Patto
Performed by Patto

User Reviews

Twisted, dark comedy at its best

This movie surprised me in a very positive way, i really liked the balance of dark and gritty comedy but at the same time also cute and beautiful (often in a very twisted way).

It was a refreshing movie to watch, maybe not as good as Bad-Ass (exact same kind of twisted humor) but nevertheless a movie that shouldn't be missed by anyone who loves dark comedy.

With comedy and horror it's impossible to go by the IMDb score, i think a 6 a way too low rating for this movie, but if you're frequent IMDb visitor you know about this already. People just have extremely varied taste when it comes to comedy and horror, either you love it or you hate it..