Observe And Report (Blu-ray)
Filed Under: Blu-ray, Reviews | Article Tags : Blu-ray review
By: The Dweeb
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You can always tell almost right away when a movie is trying too hard, especially a comedy. Observe and Report, a film that stars current Hollywood it boy comedian Seth Rogen is definitely trying too hard to be a crude, crass outrageous dark comedy. Sure there are quite a few scenes which are funny, especially the ones that are obviously unscripted, but it runs its course rather quickly I’m afraid. I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between Seth Rogen’s Ronnie character and Steve Carrell’s Maxwell Smart. Namely a guy who thinks they know what they are doing, but only ever land themselves into awkward situations with the people who really know what they are doing, and somehow they tend to bumble their way out of it. In short, an over enthusiastic wanna be loser. The films creators must have thought that constantly dropping the F bomb in almost every scene would make up for the movie’s shortfalls. Nope, sorry guys. It actually feels like its half baked.
Ronnie (Seth Rogen) thought he had it all, as head of security at Forest Ridge Mall he was a big fish in a small pond. Sure he has anger management issues, but he takes his job seriously. Well, OK maybe way too seriously a lot of the time. His daily routine is highlighted by beating the living crap out of some teenage skaters in his parking lot. Things get more interesting when a flasher suddenly starts terrorizing the mall patrons, even freaking out his main crush Brandi (Anna Farris) from the makeup counter. The incident suddenly make him realize he has a higher calling, to join the police force. Just there’s that one small detail that’s holding him back, he is bi polar. But, that won’t stop Ronnie from cracking the case of the bandit flasher. Although he’s a bit of an Ox, I will give him credit for sticking to his guns, or whatever, because he’s not allowed to have any guns. He wants justice to be served, and no one will stop him, not even the police. Think of him as a dumb ass superhero of the mall.
Observe and Report is of course an ensemble comedy, with many likable characters and others who are just plain annoying. I’m not sure Seth Rogen can adequately display the short temper of his character, it seems to constantly fall short and it looks like beginners acting class frankly. Anna Farris’s Brandi can be very annoying, but is at her best when getting drunk on their date. I’m still trying to figure out why Ray Liotta is in this movie as Detective Harrison, were there no other roles available? Seems like a bit of a waste of his talents to be in this film. Many of the minor characters in the movie provide the highlights, unfortunately we don’t get to see a lot of them or the opportunities to use them effectively are wasted. His mother for one, played by Celia Weston, is a complete drunk and delivers some of the best moments in the film. Security guard Dennis (Michael Pena) also is a real oddball in here but somehow its endearing, he’s got some funny stuff as Ronnie’s would be sidekick. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish with the twins (John and Matt Yuan), other than to serve as silent observers in the background most of the time. Are they supposed to be Statler and Waldorf?
The Blu-ray edition for this film is really designed like a standard DVD, the only advantage is the PIP commentary option. Sound and picture are good, but for a run of the mill film like this really it makes no difference to me if its 1080P or 480i. There are more extra materials on here than the regular DVD of course, but its not that exciting. If you really want to see how annoying Seth’s laugh is, check out the gag reels. Just one after another. Also included are the promotional materials for the film, including the lame attempt at making a recruitment video for the mall. Were they hoping it would go viral? Its really painful to watch. The rest is really standard operating procedure stuff we’ve seen time and time again.
This movie is nothing to write home about frankly, it will most likely be relegated to the bargain bin of cheap comedies in the back row soon to be forgotten. Is it worth the extra expense of a Blu-ray version? No, certainly not. Its a hit or miss film, but for me mostly on the miss side.
Reviewer’s Opinion: BORROW IT!!
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