| 'Are we in the right theatre?' Observe and Report is dark and twisted - not exactly the buddy comedy it's marketed to be
B+
| OBSERVE AND REPORT
Now playing
A discordant, take-no-prisoners comedy with a psychosexual slant and a bipolar, schlubby lead at its centre, Observe and Report obliterates any conceivable political correctness in a bid to be as subversive as possible.
Seth Rogan, in a bold and unflattering performance, is Ronnie Barnhardt, a mall security cop who lords over his domain with an unhealthy mixture of misguided pigheadedness and depraved self-importance. (It's a riff on cinema's most prominent alienated loner, Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle.)
When an exhibitionist begins to terrorize the mall's patrons, Ronnie, along with his cohorts (twins John and Matt Yuan, played by Michael Peña), step up their game; doubly so when the flasher gives a peek to resident hottie Brandi (Anna Faris), who mans the cosmetics counter with the elegance of pink fuzzy dice.
Ronnie becomes fixated on the trashy, promiscuous blonde, especially after a professional detective, played by Ray Liotta, is brought on the case. Ronnie's intimidated, and refuses to allow someone else take the glory for the case that's come his way.
Abruptly, Ronnie quits his depression medication and his behaviour becomes even more erratic. He's under the misplaced notion that he'd be a valuable asset to the police department and begins a regimen to join the academy.
At one point, Liotta calls in a fellow officer (Ben Best) to spy on the moment when he must tell Ronnie that he's rejected due to being psychologically unsound. Instead of playing out the prank, the officer jettisons it midway through: "I thought it would be funny, but it turns out to be just sad."
So far, audiences are having a similar reaction the film. After being terribly mismarketed as yet another frivolous 'Apatowian' comedy, Observe and Report flaunts its damaged characters who partake in drug abuse, violence and (almost) date rape to the point of almost alienating the viewers.
Just when you couldn't be more tired of the standard-issue Rogen persona, along comes a reasonably incisive portrait of a social outsider pushed by his psychosomatic self to bouts of unreasonably extreme aggression.
Not for the faint of heart, Observe and Report stands out from the pack for its sheer brashness.
— Aaron Graham |
Uptown
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