Observe and Report [DVD]

By Clint Morris

“Would you like a cheaper brand if it’s available?”

It may be the Bi-lo of comedies, but as anyone that shops at the low-frills supermarket chain knows, sometimes the cheaper, less attractive product can be of a much better quality than the competitors. Seth Rogen’s latest “Observe and Report” doesn’t quite work as well as some of his other films do, namely “Knocked Up” and “Superbad”, but it does run [smoke] rings around last year’s “The Pineapple Express”.

A bit like one of Grandpa’s jokes – memorable and somewhat funny, but never that side-splitting that it has you hanging onto your stomach like jelly that’s threatening to leave a plastic bowl, “Report” is almost an independent-film – especially when put side-by-side some of rising superstar Rogen’s other flicks. In fact, one wouldn’t at all be surprised to discover the budget of the whole thing equalled what Rogen was paid on his previous flick. But tonally-speaking, this isn’t just a cheap flick, it’s a completely different experience than any one of the comedies Rogen has made for Judd Apatow. I guess you’d say it has a darkness to it…

Interestingly enough, the film essentially shares the same storyline as another comedy released this year, the Kevin James vehicle “Paul Blart : Mall Cop”. In that one, a chubby mall security cop, forever dreaming of a career in law enforcement, gets his chance to shine when criminals take over the shopping plaza.

Jody Hill’s “Observe and Report” is a much bitterer pill than the warm-and-friendly “Mall Cop”. Yes, it’s about a mall security guard that longs to be a cop and is just looking for a chance to prove his worth, but unlike the Adam Sandler-produced competitor this is choca-bloc with violence, coarse language (I lost count how many times the lead character said the ‘F’ word), and even a bit of sex. If the James’ film was a bar of creamy, milk chocolate than this is a bar of the dark stuff – complete with a sour middle.

Rogen plays Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt, a wannabe cop who gets about the shopping arcade like he owns it. If a customer’s out of line, he’ll deal with him/her harshly, and if someone’s streaking in the parking lot (a recurring subplot involves a middle-aged man flashing his willy to the girls outside) he promises he’ll stop the guy at any cost.
When a surly police detective (Ray Liotta) is recruited by the Mall to find the flasher, and later investigate a robbery, Ronnie starts to feel a little left-out. Ultimately, it makes him even more determined to prove to his fellow staff that he’s the one and only man that should be protecting the mall.

This isn’t a perfect film, by any means, but it is a good one. The storyline is intriguing, and the dialogue is punchy, but it’s Seth Rogen that makes the movie – take him out of it, and it wouldn’t be half as enjoyable. Rogen, a little chubbier than usual in the title role, is typically brilliant here playing, for once, a character that’s not instantly likeable – in fact, you might say he’s a bit of a douche. And you only really start to root for him once you realize he’s surrounded by bigger dicks. Rogen seems to relish in the opportunity to play ‘bad to the bone’ – dropping the ‘F bomb’ like it’s going out of style, hitting skateboarders over the head with their own boards because they refuse to stop skating in the mall carpark, and taking his phaser gun to a disgruntled customer.

The supporting cast is good too. Anna Faris (“Scary Movie”, “The House Bunny”), like Rogen, revels in the opportunity to play an disreputable character – in her case, the promiscuous perfume-counter girl Brandi, Ray Liotta adds credibility to the thing as a police officer who becomes irritated by the numbskull Mall Cop he’s paired with, Jesse Plemons (TVs Friday Night Lights) gives an amusing turn as one of Ronnie’s new recruits, and last but not least, Collette Wolf (from Hill’s The Foot-Fist Way) gives an adorable ‘Amy Adams-esque’ performance as the bullied coffee-girl. Celia Watson (“Junebug”) may be the best of the supporting crew – stealing most of the movie’s laughs as Ronnie’s drunken ma.

If there’s a problem with the film it’d be the tone – it floats from being Superman to Superman Bizzaro a little too awkwardly at times. One minute it’s a crowd-pleasing comedy; the next it’s an excessively-violent dark comedy that’s seemingly got a woody for blood than belly-laughs. It’s hard to say what Hill was aiming for.

Despite its injustices, ‘’Observe and Report’’ is a film to not only enjoy, but commend – Jody Hill has taken some real chances here, refusing to follow the well-worn formula of most studio comedies, and its that bravery combined with Rogen’s performance, that makes it worth seeing.

Have a feeling that this’ll be one of those films that improves upon repeated viewings – sorta like Mike Judge’s “Office Space”, which, in some respects, could be set in the same world.

Extras

A Gag Reel. The Region 1, on the other hand, is jam-packed with fun odds-and-ends! Go Figure!?