Review: Observe and Report (2009)

[Scott Mendelson]

Observe and Report
2009
85 minutes
Rated R

by Scott Mendelson

Observe and Report may be the smartest dumb comedy since Harold and
Kumar Go To White Castle. That 2004 comedy classic used its stoner
comedy trappings to tell a sharp, incisive tale about modern race
relations and ethnic identity (we'll ignore the terrible sequel).
Observe and Report begins as simply another story about an
underachieving, but big-dreaming little guy who gets a chance to
redeem himself and win the girl of his dreams. By the time it is over,
we realize that we haven't just watched a comic variation on Taxi
Driver, but also a satire of the very concept of American-style
ambition and nationalistic superiority. In an era where hopes and
dreams are being squashed left and right by forces not entirely of our
own making, Observe and Report comes close to asking us how we began
to feel entitled to our uniquely American optimism in the first
place.

A token amount of plot - Ronnie Barnhardt is a mall security guard who
dreams of bigger and better things. After a random flasher assaults
several women in the parking lot, including the cosmetics employee who
occupies Ronnie's fantasies, the obsessive mall cop sees this as an
opportunity to fulfill his dreams of becoming a police officer. Can
Ronnie achieve his dreams of becoming a police officer, as well as win
the heart of Melanie at the cosmetics counter? Or will the police
catch the flasher first, sounding a death knell for Ronnie's hopes and
dreams?

Technically, this is a vast improvement on Jody Hill's low-budget,
somewhat undisciplined debut feature The Foot Fist Way, and he has
certainly become one of the most promising comic talents out there.
The film is tighter and more organized, despite both films running
about 85 minutes. There is genuine maturing as a filmmaker on display.
While the plot is relatively conventional, the film quickly becomes a
dark, psychologically disturbing trip into the mind of a genuine
psychotic who believes that he has been put on this Earth to watch
over the rest of us. The film will have audiences questioning just how
much humor they are supposed to take from this obviously damaged
individual, with many a joke being followed by a nervous chuckle.
Everyone knows someone like Ronnie, and he's not very funny in real
life.

In a genuinely brave performance, Seth Rogen sheds his frat-boy comic
styling and delivers an unflinching portrayal. He refuses to wink at
the audience and never subconsciously apologizes for Ronnie's casual
racism and often deplorable behavior. The supporting cast is equally
game. Anna Faris is equally daring, delivering a razor-sharp and
hilarious put-on of her usual ditzy blonde characters. Faris delivers
a 'dream girl' who is stupid to the point of being repulsive, without
any charm or kindness to offset the sheer nothingness on display. In a
offhand way, she ends up becoming a spoof of the 'idealized fantasy
girl' who appears in so many male coming of age stories (think Garden
State). Ray Liotta, looking younger and healthier than he has in ages,
has a blast playing off his tough-guy persona as the local cop in
charge of investigating crime at Ronnie's mall. Only Michael Pena
falters, as Ronnie's partner and trusted friend. Pena's highly
cartoonish Spanish accent rings false in a film that strives for a
certain authenticity.

While casual audiences can certainly enjoy the film for its bawdy
punch lines and quasi-comic violence, there is much underneath the
surface. First of all, the film plays as a pretty hard rip on the
'empowering' cliches found in so many movies that deal with male
fantasy. But the film eventually becomes something deeper and more
profound. Like most Americans, Ronnie believes that he is unique, a
killer bee amongst the ant colony. By virtue of his birthright, he
believes in his own moral superiority as well as his divine right to a
greater destiny than that which has been bestowed upon him. The
picture is a case study of both a garden-variety delusional thug and
the bitter disillusionment of an entire nation. That this stark and
uncompromising portrait is able to exist in a genuine comedy is
something of a miracle.

Like The Foot Fist Way, this is a darkly comic character study of an
obsessive, violent underachiever who thinks he's just a step away from
greatness, only to realize that he was always doomed to walk among the
masses of 'average men'. The film, while flawed (it sometimes moves in
fits and starts) is surprisingly unflinching in its vision of a
frighteningly common type of person. Moreover, it uses that archetype
to paint a portrait of an America slowly coming to terms with the idea
that it might not be as special as it thought it was. If Paul Blart:
Mall Cop is the hero we want in these times of great strife, then
maybe Ronnie Barnhardt: Head of Mall Security is the 'hero' we're
stuck with.

Grade: A-