Observe and Report

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..

We have a new auteur in comedy director/writer Jody Hill. With two films and one television series under his belt now, his vision is pretty clear: he makes comedies about nasty, mean-spirited people who can be extremely unpleasant to be around. His work divide audiences sharply, and even those who like it, like myself, have their reservations. Observe and Report is heavily influenced by Taxi Driver. Seth Rogen plays the head of mall security. He spends most of his days wishing he were more important, but he also likes to believe that he is very important where he is. He dreams of shooting the bad guys and getting the hot girl (Anna Faris, a bimbo who works at a makeup counter at the mall). When a local police detective (Ray Liotta) starts horning in on his mall and his girl, Rogen begins to fly off the handle. Like Hill's previous film, The Foot Fist Way, what Observe and Report really needs is a few more laughs. It was funny, but it always felt like it could be funnier. The movie's often very depressing, and Hill is effective in making those painful moments work. Even though Rogen is pretty crazy and frankly a bad person, I felt sorry for him. If Hill could pull off more humorous moments, the balance would work a lot better.

To be honest I quite enjoyed this film, OK its not a laugh out loud all the time comedy but it does have its moments. Sometimes it comes across as a serious film and its gets confusing as to what sort of route its taking. I think the viewer needs to sit down, relax and watch it with an open mind, that way you will find yourself enjoying it. The premise of the film is basically about a Naive Mall Cop (Seth Rogan) who suffers from Bi-Polar, his aim in life is to become a Police officer, without going into too much detail and spoiling it, he sets his target of finding a Flasher that is terrorising customers of the Mall to prove to an investigating police officer (Ray Liotta) he is capable of doing his job. Along the way he tries to win the heart of a Make-up Clerk (Anna Faris) with miserable consequences. All in all, many films I have seen recently I have switched off halfway through, not interested in seeing what happens in the end, this I watched to the end. I thought the ending was good, can't see what other people thought was so bad about it, yes it was a bit harsh, but all was OK. Sorry about the review being a bit short on the info part, but did not want to reveal too much about it.

Decently entertaining, and with a underappreciated performance from Rogen as the Bi-polar lead- Observe and Report is a underrated little dark comedy that doesn't always succeed, but does so more often than not. I'll start off with the flaws of this film. There are several moments of this film that feel a bit choppy, whether it be editing, or simply the increasing change of camera angles throughout a single scene, it feels a bit messy in that sense, and overall weakened the scenes it affected. The film can also be frustrating at times with its awkward encounters and sense of humor, that can get old after a while. Thankfully though, due to Rogen's performance, and the embracing of the black comedy this film knows it is, Observe and Report can often be quite funny, and at times rather amusing. I enjoyed the fact that almost none of the characters in this film are likeable, which may seem like a turn off to some for films, but it doesn't aim to impress the audience with how good everyone is, and it embraces the characters flaws for what they are. The film can be quite violent, rowdy, and at times surprising- not anything I expected from this comedy anyway, and I think the film deserves that recognition as something more than a copycat of Kevin James Mall cop flick. In the end, Observe and Report is a flawed comedy, but it is rather unique in its own way. It doesn't play by the rules, and it isn't afraid to embrace its darker tones and odd sense of humor, something many films (especially comedies) don't ever get the chance to do. My Rating: 8/10

Observe and Report. No, it is not a ripoff of Paul Blart: Mall Cop, lets get that out of the way right now. This movie has been troubled since the very beginning and has been disowned by critics for being too dark to be funny. Dark? Yes, this movie has its share of politically incorrect humor and gratuitous violence played up for laughs. But to call it not funny…. I simply cannot fathom why anyone did. This movie is a laugh-out-loud spectacle. Its almost as good in the way that Bad Santa was good. Seth Rogen even plays his character akin to Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (minus the Oscar worthiness and anything that made Travis Bickle a classic character of course, I'm not equating Rogen to DeNiro). The rest of the cast exemplified terrific comedic timing, especially Ray Liotta. If your looking for laughs, this movie is up your ally. Its in the same league as Kick-Ass and Bad Santa for sure. As for the critics… well… prior to the film's release, the stock market crashed. I blame the economy for this one. Times are a little bit better, and so is this movie. Give it a watch.