Rape, balls, and a small penis are used for comedic purposes in telling the story of security officer Ronnie (Seth Rogen) in the new movie, Observe and Report, which premiered on Monday at SXSW. Ronnie and his gang ofx security officers put the mall on high alert in an attempt to take down a flasher who has targeted make up counter girl Brandi, played by Anna Farris. The security officers cannot handle capturing the flasher and defending the mall from a new robber on their own, so Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) comes in. When the Detective crosses Ronnie, all hell breaks loose.
Awesome guest stars include Danny McBride, Patton Oswalt, and Aziz Ansari, who has one particularly great line which writer/director Jody Hill acknowledged was totally improvised.
While the film contains some outstanding one-liners, the final product still feels a bit off. Because so much of the humor rises from being shocked or repulsed, it always seemed like you were watching more than one movie. There are comedy, drama and action elements within the film that were well done, but felt unnecessary. Hill stated at the panel that this was more of a melodrama, which isn’t exactly what is portrayed in trailers for the film. Hill also described the movie as Taxi-Driver-esque, which is clearly seen through the development of Ronnie. With Rogen leading the way there is a certain guarantee that people will go to theaters, but if they are expecting Rogen to play a character similar to any of his previous movies they are in for a surprise. The punchlines are there, but not always as clear-cut as the “you know how I know your gay?” segments from The 40-Year-Old Virgin, for example
Observe and Report is a darkly funny movie, but struggles with the line between melodrama and gross-out comedy.
Apropos of films featuring Seth Rogen, I guarantee you that Funny People — which’ll be released to the masses come 7/31/2009 — will be immensely more entertainin’ and, moreover, relatable than fuckin’ Observe and Report; that’s ’cause it’s an amsuin’, yet nevertheless heart-warmin’ comedy.
Then again, Judd Apatow is the goddamn man—and that’s that!
Good Times,
Anthony King
P.S.: I suggest that you check out a couple of old, albeit still outstanding television series (i.e., Freeks and Geeks and Undeclared). Shit, I bet that you’ll enjoy them.
Haha. I utterly agree that Funny People will probably be great. I like the movie it’s just that it’s a dark comedy. There’s denying that. Rogen + Dark Comedy = ??
Some people would argue Pineapple Express is a bit similar; there just to many fucked up stuff going on in the film to even be close to Pineapple Express.
Even though this is kind of sad and good to say, I grew up on Freaks and Geeks. I saw that show growing up because it was so smart and spoofing what I believe to be The Wonder Years.
Without being the sort-of-buff I make myself out to be (jk), I have seriously watched all of those shows without hesitation at through the age (Wikipedia says) of 10 turning 11.
Mind you I was watching ten times worse things than freaks and geeks.
FYI. I saw Beetlejuice non-stop when I was a kid and totally got all of the sex jokes. LOL
Oh yeah. I had the only crush on Linda Cardellini. That Army jacket on her was freaking hot I thought for some reason.
I still have a crush: Grandma’s Boy!