Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Peña, Ray Liotta,
Dan Bakkedahl, Jesse Plemons, Celia Weston, John Yuan,
Matt Yuan, Collette Wolfe, Randy Gambill
Written by Jody Hill
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 86 minutes
Directed by Jody Hill
If you like watching films about loudmouthed, violent men who have sex with women so drunk they've passed out and dream of taking a gun and blowing away everyone they can, then Observe and Report is the film for you. But the the other 99% of us, it's a film to keep well away from.
There have been some pretty awful comedies made in the past few years – Norbit, Meet The Spartans and Disaster Movie, to name just three. But O&R knocks them into a cocked hat, because it stars people who are actually funny – Rogen and Faris – and who really should know better than to do trash like this. Rogen stars as Ronnie Barnhardt, a mall security guard with bipolar disorder – yes, let's laugh at people with a mental disorder, shall we? Because that's such a funny thing to do. Ronnie considers himself a "protector of the innocent", but only as long as those people fit into his narrow, warped definition of innocence. He longs for the day he and the other mall guards are allowed to carry guns – particularly when a flasher starts terrorising mall shoppers, as well as the cosmetics counter girl, Brandi (Faris) that Ronnie has a thing for. When the real police, led by Detective Harrison (Liotta), are brought in on the flasher case, Ronnie – who really, really wants to be a cop himself – keeps hampering their investigation.
Observe and Report is not without its bright moments – such as when Ronnie and a colleague tackle a gang of skateboarders in the car park – but they are too few and far between so overcome the sense of despair that overwhelms the entire film. I generally like Rogen; in films such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and Zack and Miri Make a Porno, he's plays the goofy but lovable slob. In O&R, his character has no redeeming qualities at all; he's just stupid and unlikable, a totally pathetic cretin, whether he's taking his biploar medication or not. The usually watchable Faris, as Brandi, is also a total misfire. Yes, she's good at playing the sweet, dumb bimbo, but Brandi is just a mean, heartless slut who cares about nobody but herself. O&R is trying to be a dark, dark comedy in the mould of The Cable Guy, or Bad Santa, but it fails on almost every level. Its's too uneven, too lacking in laughs, and I challenge anyone to find anything funny about date rape.
Writer/director Hill also made the indie "comedy" The Foot Fist Way – and that was one of my least favourite films of last year. Observe and Report is currently the front-runner on my list of the worst films of 2009. There are plenty of people out there willing to waste their money going to see garbage like this – just make sure that you're not one of them.