| Review: Observe & Report |
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| Monday, 27 April 2009 | ||||||
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These two men had the comedic world in the palm of their hands. Since The 40-Year Old Virgin, there has been Role Models, Pineapple Express, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marhsall and a lesser known indie comedy, The Foot Fist Way. Directed and written by Jody Hill and starring (of Pineapple Express fame) Danny McBride, it was one of the darkest and foulest comedies to grace the film since the comedy has been re-defined. With Hill’s brand of dark humor and Rogen’s comedic charm, what could go wrong with collaboration between the two?
The Plot
Observe and Report follows bi-polar (head of mall) security guard Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) as he attempts to bring a flasher that has been exposing himself to certain occupants of the mall. Various supporting characters are introduced including a detective (Ray Liotta) that is called when Barnhardt falls to catch the pervert and a dimwitted beautician counter employee (Anna Faris) that is Barnhardt’s love interest. It is easy to see that Hill was highly inspired by Scorsese’s classic film, Taxi Driver by exhibitng themes such as alientation and apathy towards most other people. Albeit Taxi Driver was a much more serious, dark and well crafted piece, but Observe and Report does not fail to deliver. The brand of comedy is as dark as it can get. From arresting children and blatantly cursing in their faces to killing crackheads, Barnhardt never backs down from a challenge. Amidst all of the comedy, there is also a fair share of drama.
There are a few moments in the film where Hill emotionally engages the viewer to a level where most comedies never dare to go. It is debatable as to whether or not one should sympathize with Barnhardt because of his highly unorthodox methods, but it is only human to pity the pitiless.
Our Take
I have only been praising the film and the talents of Hill and Rogen so far in this review, if I were to continue that trend then this review would be highly misleading to my true opinion on the film.
Yes, overall it is a darkly comic and entertaining film, but it has its fair share of drawbacks. A few of the film’s sub-plots felt forced and unneeded to the film. Most notably, Ronnie’s relationship at home with his mother (Celia Weston). I admired how Hill showed that Barnhardt’s home life was one of a small child, perhaps alluding to why Barnhardt is the way he is. He is neglected by his single alcoholic mother and also put down by her quite often. Failing to ever have a parental figure in his life, Ronnie is still stuck in a state of perpetual childhood, feeling that everything is just a game still. However, the attention paid to this sub-plot was over done. The scenes between him and his mother became drawn out, unfunny and dull. Each of the scenes could have easily been cut down to a minute or so, getting rid of all the extra, unneeded flack.
Although it would be highly unorthodox to do this, I feel the need to express some of my own opinions and interpretations on the film for a moment. To anyone that has seen the film (as some of you have I am sure) I am interested to see what you think of when Ronnie takes on Detective Harrison in the ending. Throughout the film Ronnie commits a great deal of foul deeds but is rarely repremanded for them. Certain events did in fact happen yes, but did a few of the more far fetched stunts only occur within Ronnie’s mind? Or could they have perhaps been over exaggerated through Ronnie’s childlike imagination. Also, the way that Ronnie acts, his foul mouthed comments, his fetish of guns, his tendency to date rape, would any of those open up any sort of investigation into the mind of this man, or at least raise awareness to what might really be going on with him? These are just a few of the questions I ponder. Most likely I could be completely wrong and the film could just be on the surface and I am just lookin g for a deeper meaning lying with in. It’s happened before.
The main highlight of the film is its finale. It is one of the most hysterical, jaw dropping, “I can’t believe that just fucking happened,” endings that you will EVER see. I will not shed any light as to what happens, but all I can say is that be prepared. Thirty minutes after the film had ended I was still chuckling due to the ending.
The Verdict
Overall, Observe and Report is a tad bit flawed, but still highly rewarding comedy. Another brilliant addition to the fantastic line-up of comedic films that we have received in the past few years.
EMovieGuide Rating: 8 out of 10 Reviewed by Nello De Angelis
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 27 April 2009 ) | ||||||
A few years ago, the comedic genre was dead. The only brands of humor that you would normally see were the spoof films and the conventional crude and perverted teenager flick. In 2005, a man named Judd Apatow made a film entitled The 40-Year Old Virgin and changed the way that comedy was to be perceived in the future. One of the main aspects that made 40-Year Old Virgin excel than most of the other typical Hollywood crap is that it had a story to go along with the humor. Something to make you sympathize with Carell’s virginal character. Within the film, two other powerhouses emerged: Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen. Rudd with his dry witty comedic one liners and Rogen with his deep stoner laugh and childish charm.
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