Observe And Report [DVD] [2009]

Reading some of the reviews here, you'd think this film is super-sick..but don't be put off-it's actually kind of cuddly. Ok, so it's definitely dark but it's also got a lot of heart- and it's bloody good. The Oldboy sequence is jawdropping, some of the jokes are killer, and it's very well made and acted. I think the problem a lot of people have with this is that it's pretty original, like a funny Taxi Driver. A proper movie. If you're looking for a family comedy or another Anchorman you'd better head elsewhere, but if you liked The Foot Fist Way you're gonna LOVE this.

'Observe and Report' was theatrically released in 2009 to mixed critical acclaim and moderate box-office success.

The movie tells the story of Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) who suffers from Bipolar disorder. He works at a shopping mall as head security guard but aspires to be a Police Officer. A flasher starts exposing himself to shoppers at the mall, which causes Barnhardt to make it his mission to catch him.

'Observe and Report' is similar to 'Paul Blart - Mall Cop', which is a family light-hearted comedy that released a few months before the former and was a very successful at the box-office. The similarities are, the lead actors in both movies work as security guards in a mall and aspire to be Police Officers. Apart from these similarities both movies are totally different and should not be compared with each other.

It is hard to class the theme of 'Observe and Report' as it is a dark & mature movie with a hint of comedy and is high in emotions. The way I understood the movie was by looking at it from the view of Ronnie as he experiences all kinds of emotions due to his Bipolar disorder. He experiences everything from love, happiness, anger, disappointment to violence. That is what, we as an audience experience and are left with mixed emotions. As a result a lot of the viewers were not sure how to take the movie.

The movie is really entertaining and has a good screenplay, which keeps your attention up until the satisfying ending. The movie is also funny when it should be and appropriately emotional.

Seth Rogen produces his finest performance as he brilliantly expresses the mixed emotions that his character experiences. His touching performance elevates the movies status from average to good. Ray Liotta (Detective Harrison) is mediocre, Anna Faris (Brandi) who plays Ronnie's dream girl is annoying, Michael Peña (Dennis) is amusing. Jesse Plemons (Charles) John Yuan & Matthew Yuan (Yuen twins), all play other mall officers and are efficient. Collette Wolfe who plays Ronnie's friend is good. Also of note is the funny Aziz Ansari (Saddamn) who plays an Iraqi shopkeeper.

The direction provided by Jody Hill is first-rate as he succeeds in making a different kind of quality movie. The background music score, which is perfect is provided by Joseph Stephens.

Two things that I didn't like about the movie was the frontal nudity scenes of the flasher and a drug taking scene. The movie could've done without these scenes.

'Observe and Report' is aimed for the mature audience and should be watched with an open mind. It didn't do as expected at the box-office as it was advertised as an out-and-out comedy, which wasn't the case.

'Observe and Report' is an underrated surprise package.

This is comedy in the darkest shade of black. Observe And Report observes and reports on the life of the tragically flawed character that is Ronnie Barnhardt, from the minute his mall becomes the target of a flasher operating in the car park. Ronnie leaps into action when the flasher targets the subject of his wildest dreams - trashy mall beautician Brandi - which also marks the beginning of his feud with Detective Harrison, sent out to deal with the situation.

Seth Rogen, familiar to many from his shlubby lovable loser characters in Judd Apatow's films, swings completely to the dark side in this role as bipolar Ronnie, which is probably his finest performance so far. He continues to carry out his mall duties obsessively, dealing out his own brand of justice, as he spars with Ray Liotta's Harrison - Harrison just wants to do his job, but is gradually driven to despair by Ronnie's continual ignorance, nuisance, and presence. Michael Peña is particularly hilarious as Dennis, Ronnie's 'right hand man' in mall security, and his performance is perhaps the only one you don't feel dirty inside for laughing at.

Be aware that this is definitely NOT a family movie though - it's not too graphic, apart from a prolonged section of full-frontal male nudity, though the themes in this film are more mature than plenty of 18 certificates I can think of. For instance, besides Ronnie's delusional nature, and often terrifying behaviour, there's some flat-out racism, date rape, and armed adults jumping and beating up teenagers.

This is a very funny film, though most of the time it's a slim choice between laughing and crying. Equally though, it is a great study of Ronnie's character, even if many of the things you see you may not want to remember!