Observe and Report (Warner Brothers Pictures)
Makes Paul Blart Look Like Pure Genius
Seth Rogen stars in Observe and Report, a movie about mall cops. You will recall Kevin James also starred in a recent movie about mall cop, Paul Blart. Whereas that movie was light and funny, this one is dark and unfunny. In truth it is just obnoxious and makes James and company look like comic geniuses.
Ronnie Barnhart (Rogen) is a mall cop who lives for the day he and his co-horts are authorized to carry guns. He sees himself as the protector of the innocent, but he has his own definition as to who is innocent. One person he is genuinely out to get is the flasher who is terrorizing mall shoppers. This guy even had the nerve to flash Brandi (Anna Faris), the cosmetics counter girl. That put him at the top of Ronnies list.
An actual cop, Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), is called in to investigate the flasher incident but he cant make any progress because Ronnie keeps getting in his way. Ronnie actually thinks he and the cop are buddies but Harrison is making fun of him behind his back.
Ronnies mother (Celia Weston) keeps encouraging him in his lame brained stunts. She thinks he is just wonderful. Of course her brain is stewed from too much drinking so her opinion isnt worth much.
If a movie like this is going to work it has to be funny at least sometimes funny. This one isnt. It is too dark and too depressing to create any laughs. Ronnie is bipolar, and he has a rotten personality. The audience is never on his side and to enjoy the movie you have to be on his side.
Rogen plays his role well enough. He makes Ronnie unlikable and dumb. When he gets taken advantage of by Brandi, his best friend Dennis (Michael Pena), and Detective Harrison you cheer them on. They may be losers but Ronnie is a bigger one.
The film is rated R for profanity, violence and sexual situations. There is also full male nudity thanks to the flasher.
Seth Rogen arrogantly assumes audiences will watch and love him anything. Did he not learn anything from Zach and Miri Make A Porno We only like his movies if they are funny. And if they are funny we can put with some raunchy subject matter and bad language. If they arent funny, profanity and raunchy material are not going to save them. And nothing saves this mess of a film.
Observe and Report is the most tasteless and witless movie you have seen in a while. It isnt funny; it isnt fun. It is a total waste of your time and money.
I scored Observe and Report an un-observable 3 out of 10.
