I did some people watching this weekend when the family went to the mall to see a movie. I also got to see some of the mall’s finest patrolling the area, but I doubt they’ll enjoy Observe and Report. Maybe they’d like its more family friendly cousin Paul Blart.
Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) is the head of security at the local mall. He takes his job seriously… very seriously. So he’s apoplectic when a local pervert is flashing people in the parking lot. He’s boiling mad though when Brandi (Anna Faris), the makeup counter girl that he has a crush on, is flashed by the pervert.
Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) is sent in by the local police to investigate the flasher and the robbery of some of the stores. He also starts hitting on Brandi, but is severely annoyed by Ronnie. When Ronnie decides to join the force this makes things even worse for Harrison. Ronnie continues to stalk… erm trying to date her and heat up his investigation of the criminal doings at the mall.
Observe and Report is the OTHER film about mall security. Paul Blart: Mall Cop was certainly aimed more at families and didn’t have the raunchiness that Observe and Report is smeared with. Blart was an incompetent buffoon that wanted to have a better life and find love. Barnhardt owes more to Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver fame who takes his job at the mall to the extreme and dreams of getting to carry a firearm as a police officer.
His mad world comes crashing to the ground he can’t join the force and it turns out that his object of affection, Brandi, isn’t the gal he first imagined.
Seth Rogen just plays our lead as too manic a character. We’re afraid of Barnhardt. He’s not a loveable loser like that other film had as its star. I guess I’m also tiring of cringe comedy - though there are some belly laughs to be found in the film.
It probably depends on your enjoyment of the stars. They’re not playing too far from their comfort zones. Faris is playing a slutty dunce, Liotta a screaming authoritarian, and the cast is peppered with odd characters.
As far as enjoyment goes, I liked Blart better. Though the crowd more looking for raunchy comedy might well prefer this film.
Observe and Report is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1). Special features include a picture-in-picture commentary with Seth Rogen, Anna Faris), and writer/director Jody Hill. The rest of the special features are presented in standard definition.
They include 27 minutes of additional scenes, a 12 minute gag reel, 7 minutes of outtakes/alternate takes with Rogen and Farris, a 6 minute making of, and a 3 minute “Security Recruitment video.” The disc is also BD-Live enabled. Disc two is a digital copy for your PC or portable device.
I’ve observed Observe and Report and have to report that I liked Paul Blart better. Observe and Report certainly falls more into the type of cringe comedies that populate the cinemas today. If that’s your bag then you might enjoy it, but if it’s not then you’ll want to vacate this mall immediately.
Observe and Report [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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