Film Screening 12th August, 2009

Poster for Observe and Report

Observe and Report 

8:00 PM, 12th August, 2009

  • MA
  • 86 mins
  • Unknown
  • Jody Hill
  • Jody Hill
  • Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta, Michael Peña

Observe and Report follows Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen), head of mall security at Forest Ridge Mall, as he attempts to apprehend an anonymous flasher who has been exposing himself to mall patrons. To add complications to Ronnie's life ((ndash)) who suffers from bipolar disorder and has an alcoholic mother ((ndash)) a local police officer, Detective Harris (Liotta), is called in after the flasher strikes again, this time upsetting the girl of Ronnie's dreams, Brandi (Faris). Feeling threatened by the presence of Harris on his territory, Ronnie decides to join the police force and has another run-in with Harris. Things seem to get worse for Ronnie. Nothing seems to be going his way, he feels continually jealous and threatened by Detective Harris and the failure of his success with Brandi, and eventually falls into trouble with the law. All this, and he still hasn't apprehended the mysterious flasher terrorising the mall.

The movie is a dark comedy, and if you go into it expecting another Superbad or Knocked Up, you might be taken off guard (both films of which Rogen was in). Not to say the movie is bad, but it's a different flavour of comedy, where there's a darker overall theme to the story and characters. You laugh because the situations and events are terrible, not because they're embarrassingly awkward. Still, if you're sick of the more immature comedies, or just feel like a bit of a nasty laugh, this movie is definitely up your alley. Come for a laugh, and leave feeling better about yourself, knowing that (hopefully) your life is better than Ronnie's.

Stephen Gillies