Observe and Report
Starring: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta, Michael Pena, and Celia Weston
Written and Directed by: Jody Hill
Last summer, a little film remarkably got a wide release in the midst of all the summer blockbusters, thanks mainly to backing from Will Ferrell who saw it at Sundance and loved it. The film was called The Foot Fist Way. It starred Danny Mcbride as a delusional Tae Kwon Do instructor. It wasn’t a very good movie. If fact, at times it was quite bad. But when it was good…it was really good. And very, very funny. There was just something about it that you couldn’t stop watching to see what this crazy dude was going to do. It was shot entirely in North Carolina, and made by UNCSA alumnus from top to bottom, and director Jody Hill and crew are back this year with the much larger budgeted studio backed Observe and Report…and the results are much more interesting.
This go round the stars are much bigger. Seth Green, stretching in ways we haven’t quite seen before here, plays Ronnie Barnhardt, head of security at Forest Ridge Mall. The seemingly quiet atmosphere at the mall is disturbed greatly in the opening scenes as a flasher runs amuck in the parking lot, exposing himself to any woman he sees. Ronnie and his staff are embarrassed by the flasher and their failure to catch him. This is only exacerbated by their failure again to catch the perv when he returns days later. This time however, the pervert flashes the lovely/shallow cosmetics girl Brandy, who Ronnie is crushing on big time. As they say in the movies… “this time it’s personal.” Ronnie makes it his personal battle/redemption to catch the flasher and make him pay.
The plot develops from these simple origins into one of the most offensive, often disturbing, always hilarious films I have seen in many, many years. And it does so without pandering to the dick and fart joke scene…Kevin Smith pay attention, this is what funny actually is. Jody Hill is cut from a different cloth than many filmmakers today. He seems obsessed with the delusion of power. His protagonist in The Foot Fist Way believed he was the best Tae Kwon Do fighter in the world, even though he constantly reminded that he clearly was not. In much the same way Ronnie suffers from the same problems. He thinks he is the best Police Officer in the world, though he is not even a real cop, and not even a very good security officer. These problems become even more problematic when Ray Liotta shows up as the detective assigned to the mall flasher case. Rogen and Liotta have some great scenes, and Liotta does a fantastic job playing it cool and reserved until just the right moment to erupt. When he does, it is one of the funnier scenes in the movie.
On the topic of funny, a big shout-out is due to the indomitable Anna Faris. The word fearless is used quite often to describe actors who take risks, but none have ventured as far out as the truly fearless Anna Faris. I can’t claim to be a big fan of the Scary Movie franchise…in fact, I’ve never seen any of those movies in their entirety, but I will give them props for giving this wonderful actress her big break. I’ve seen her and liked her in other films since then. Most notably Lost In Translation, the wonderfully twisted horror, May, and most recently in The House Bunny, a really bad movie that is very viewable because of her balls-out optimistic performance. I’m not sure there has ever been a more shallow, one-dimensional character as her Brandy. To say she’s about as deep as a Frisbee is an insult to Frisbees everywhere. Never has Faris gone this far out there…particularly in one of the most disturbing/hilarious sex scenes ever filmed.
As for Seth Green? Since making a huge splash as the lovable loser in Knocked Up a couple of years ago, he’s made several movies…essentially playing the same character every time. He really stretches here though. His Ronnie is a completely delusional asshole. But there is something wholly likeable about him. You root for him the entire time, even when he’s being a complete schmuck. Especially when he’s being a complete schmuck. Rogen has always had an easy charm and a strong screen presence, and he uses both of those qualities to great effect here to make Ronnie a completely unique character in the world of mainstream comedy. But, make no mistake. In spite of backing from Warner Bros., this is no mainstream comedy. Which brings to question, what the hell was Warner Bros. thinking when they greenlit this film? Big pat on the back from those guys for taking such a great risk.
Jody Hill has very quickly emerged as a director to watch. He has yet to develop anything resembling a true visual style, but it’s only his second film, and he benefits greatly on Observe and Report from the brilliant Director Of Photography Tim Orr, another UNCSA alumnus. Hill’s great strength so far is as a writer. He has a tremendous sense of pacing, and seems to know exactly how long to let a joke go. He also has a fairly twisted sense of humor. The funniest moments in both his features so far come in moments that are painfully awkward or disturbing, except for one little thing that turns it from offensive to flat out funny. There are few filmmakers around right now that will even think about taking the risks that Hill does…and the almost always pay off.
This film is not for all. There are some of you who will just not like any of the characters. There are some of you who will not see the humor in the bleak, disturbing situations. But for those of you who consider yourselves a bit adventurous and are willing to let things unfold as they will…Observe and Report is the perfect movie. And all wrapped up in a tidy, 86 minute bow.
