Observe and Report Review

[Secretagentnumber6]

Comedies of late seem to fit into two categories. There are the so called new Apatow inspired comedies and then there are the other comedies. The Apatow inspired comedies are refreshing in my mind, while all the others are bland and let's face it made for the lowest denominator. Earlier this year a relatively successful fim starring Kevin James as a mall cop came out called Paul Blart Mall Cop. This movie would fit squarely in the latter category. Observe and Report is the exact opposite of Paul Blart but using the same premise. Seth Rogen plays Ronnie, the head of security of a shopping mall. He takes his job very seriously and believes he is far more important than his job suggests. His love interest is played by Anna Faris. She works at a cosmetic counter in the mall, and basically could care less that Ronnie exists. Ronnie however doesn't care and when a flasher assaults various women at the mall including his love, he goes on a mission to find the perp. Ray Liotta plays the police officer that is assigned to investigate the flasher and a robbery that takes place at the mall also. Rogen and Liotta play off each other well and show a severe hate for each other. The supporting cast is great in this one. Many of the cast may be recognized by fans of other work by Jody Hill the writer and director of the movie. The movie is an extremely dark comedy at times and at other times can be a laugh out loud type comedy. That would be the biggest complaint I had about the movie. It cannot seem to decide what it wants to be. In the end though I believe it closes it up well and finally finds the correct balance between the two. This is a good film that while it will not please everyone, it will find a heavy following. And any movie that has a Pixies song as good as "Where is my Mind" in it cannot be that bad right. I do recommend it. The performances are great and it has a well written script that while spotty at times gets the job done in the end.