Observe and Report

Release Date: April 10th, 2009

Click here for the Observe And Report Trailer.

The first Seth Rogen film of the new year......well the first where the actor was in person(voice of Bob in Monsters vs Aliens), puts the actor in the role of Ronnie Barnhardt, the "Chief of Security" at the Forest Ridge Mall. Ronnie rules his mall with the iron fist of justice, taking out skateboarders, shoplifters, and the occasional disgruntled customer. Ronnie feels unappreciated but sees his chance at proving his worth when a flasher attacks some women in the parking lot as well as the make-up counter worker Brandi(Anna Faris), Ronnie's dream girl who won't so much as look at him. But things get hairy when the detectives of the Conway Police Department, headed up by Detective Harrison(Ray Liotta), take over the investigation and the mall is suddenly robbed. Now it is Ronnie's job to not only track down the robber, but the flasher as well, and all before Detective Harrison does it first. With his motley crew of security guards Ronnie embarks on his mission to bring the criminals to justice and to prove that he is good enpugh to be accepted into the Conway Police academy, all while trying to win the affection of Brandi.

Well, if you've seen any of Seth Rogen's other films(Knocked Up, Pineapple Express) then you know that the actor's credits don't go far past being a pot head and one wonders if he can handle being funny without being high. The easiest way to sum up this movie is Paul Blart on crack. This movie takes everything that was sweet and lovable from the Kevin James flick and turns it into a crude, foul-mouth laugh fest. Let me tell you that this movie isn't for the faint of heart. This movie is very funny. Rogen does an impressive job as the hard core mall cop. The best thing about his character are the illusions of grandeur Ronnie has. The movie transfers from the mall to Ronnie's house for the majority of the movie. The time spent at the mall is all driven towards finding the flasher and defeating Detective Harrison while the scenes at Ronnie's house focus on Ronnie and his super drunk mother.

Rogen has a nice supporting cast in this movie. Ray Liotta(The Rat Pack) stars as the hard core Detective Harrison. Harrison absolutely hates Ronnie and wants nothing more than to see him dead. Liotta adds is classic sadistic spin to his charactet taking out of the boundries of a typical police detective. Then there's Anna Faris' character Brandi. Brandi works at the make-up counter and is, in fact, the dream girl of our hapless hero Ronnie. Faris didn't have a major role in this movie. Her character was the "office slut" type character so most of her scenes involved her having sex, minus the nudity (for anybody who just wants to see that you will be sadly disappointed). But the cast was all around funny. Liotta had that crazy/scary funny he typically had, Faris had her typical humor and Rogen did his usual foul-mouth crazy character that you can't help but love.

As for the movie, it was very entertaining. The plot was something completely different from anything you've seen in a movie. Chasing down a flasher at a mall isn't something that gets pitched to directors a lot. One of the coolest parts was the fight scenes Ronnie engaged in.There is one where Ronnie bears up a couple of drug dealers with an expandable knight stick and another where he takes on 12 officers from the Conway Police Department with nothing but a flashlight. Now, while you would expect Ronnie to get his ass kicked, you are pleasantly surprised to see Ronnie doing the ass kicking. He takes put all 4 drug dealers and half of the cops before becoming overwhelmed. The man fights like Jackie Chan which is ironic considering he is a fat mall security guard. But probably my favorite, and most hated part of the movie was the end. I'm not going to ruin it for you, but it was the funniest. most disturbing, and most unexpected endings I have ever seen. It left you cheering for Ronnie on the inside while laughing hysterically on the outside all the while thinking "Why in the world am I watching this?"

Overall Observe and Report was a typical dark comedy that was surprisingly enjoyable and worth watching. And if you are a fan of Seth Rogen or dark comedies, then this movie is worth even a second watch. I give Observe and Report 8 Fat Mall Flashers out of 10