Whenever a comedic actor has a hot streak of hits at the box office, they often land a dud within the context of a dark comedy. Eddie Murphy’s signature style of playing multiple characters in Vampire in Brooklyn scared away audiences more than luring them to the theater. Jim Carrey’s brand of ‘90s potty jokes did not translate well to a creepy cable provider in The Cable Guy. But then came Seth Rogen in his ill-timed mall security vehicle, Observe and Report.
Rogen was firmly establishing himself as a household name in 2009 when Jody Hill’s dark comedy arrived on the heels of the Canadian star’s collaborations with Judd Apatow in Knocked Up, Superbad, and Pineapple Express. Most critics dismissed the film by comparing it to a knock-off of Kevin James‘s Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which Rogen was fully aware of at the time of production. Yet, audiences at large were taken aback by the dark comedy elements, polling Observe and Report with a 37% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. What Observe and Report marketed in terms of being another Rogen farce ended up leaning into an uncomfortable tone nearly as disturbing as Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy.
What Is ‘Observe and Report’ About?
Observe and Report follows Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen), the head of mall security at Forest Ridge Mall. Desiring a new career in the local police force, Ronnie is obsessed with catching a perverted male flasher (Randy Gambill) who exposes himself to various female shoppers and store employees, including makeup counter worker Brandi (Anna Faris). Though Ronnie believes his heroics are justified, the mall cop suffers from a bipolar diagnosis and has grandiose delusions about the job.
Ronnie’s efforts to catch the flasher are jeopardized when he comes into conflict with Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), who believes the real cop is intruding on his big hero moment. His efforts to join the force go haywire in a series of chaotic events involving excessive force against mall employees and teenagers. Eventually, Ronnie’s cop fantasy starts to blur with the troubling reality about his mental health as well as his addiction to violence.
Seth Rogen’s Mall Cop Plays a Hero Masking Morbid Insecurity
Rogen’s signature style of laid-back stoner comedy often makes him the relatable best pal in the Apatow projects. In Observe and Report, however, Rogen’s brand of humor is completely restrained in favor of making his version of the mall cop completely unhinged by living out a Charles Bronson fantasy driven by his bipolar disorder. This was one rare instance in which Rogen was playing the type of personality that keeps people away more than attracts, and the comedy comes mostly from Ronnie’s Dirty Harry-like attitude towards the various mall personalities, including the flirtatious Saddam (Aziz Ansari) and the mean-spirited food court manager, Roger (Patton Oswalt). Even the police psych test scene, in which Ronnie describes his intensely graphic dream of committing violence on criminals, has the surface-level laughs masking the dark, disturbing undercurrent of the mall cop’s mental state. Under Hill’s direction, whose later works on HBO’s Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones share similar grim absurdity in their tones, Observe and Report goes against the traditional mainstream comedy by making the humor cringeworthy and awkward.
Rogen is joined by fellow Apatow collaborators Ansari and Danny McBride, as well as Michael Peña as Ronnie’s fellow mall cop. Additionally, Observe and Report was also one of Jesse Plemons’ earliest roles as a young security recruit mentored by Rogen’s Ronnie. Though not as significant as the Bugonia star’s later roles, Plemons gets to join Rogen in a wild finale mall brawl, in a style predating the John Wick movies, against Liotta and a group of bad cops featuring a mix of shocking violence and humor that only adds to the picture’s morbid absurdity.
‘Observe and Report’ Drew Controversy Over Date Rape Scene
Critics were largely divided by the frank way Observe and Report deals with the mental illness of Rogen’s character, as well as the excessive use of prescription drugs. Controversy was further raised by the movie’s subplot in which Rogen’s Ronnie date rapes Brandi after taking his clonazepam medication, leaving her nearly unconscious. Given the way the film tries to subvert the standard love interest plot of an action comedy, as Rogen’s Pineapple Express had done with Amber Heard’s character, the attempt to make irony out of Ronnie’s delusion with Brandi in a vulnerable state was a bridge too far for the comedian.
Rogen would defend the sequence to ABC News by telling the outlet that Brandi’s one line, “Did I tell you to stop, mother f*****?” while her eyes are closed, maintains the humor in an otherwise troubling moment. However, in the years between the film’s release and the rise of the Me Too movement, the date rape scene in Observe and Report would have been best left off the cutting room floor without derailing the film’s messaging about fragile, delusional egos working in mundane jobs.
Observe and Report is available to rent and purchase on VOD services.
- Release Date
-
April 10, 2009
- Runtime
-
86 Minutes
- Director
-
Jody Hill
- Producers
-
Donald De Line, Jon Jashni, Marty P. Ewing, William Fay, Andrew Haas
