Observe and Report (2009)

Director:

Jody Hill

Writer (WGA):

Jody Hill (written by)

Release Date:

10 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Right now, the world needs a hero.

Plot:

Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective, is recruited to close the case.

Plot Keywords:

Mall | Flasher | Bi Polar | Police Detective | Security Guard

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Seth Rogen	...	Ronnie Barnhardt
Ray Liotta	...	Detective Harrison
Michael Peña	...	Dennis
Anna Faris	...	Brandi
Dan Bakkedahl	...	Mark
Jesse Plemons	...	Charles
John Yuan	...	John Yuen
Matt Yuan	...	Matt Yuen
Celia Weston	...	Mom
Collette Wolfe	...	Nell
Randy Gambill	...	Pervert
Alston Brown	...	Bruce
Cody Midthunder	...	D-Rock
Deborah Brown	...	Female Reporter (as Debra-Jayne Brown)
Aziz Ansari	...	Saddamn

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, graphic nudity, drug use, sexual content and violence.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45064) | Australia:MA | Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:R21 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 (edited version)

Filming Locations:

Bosque Farms, New Mexico, USA

Company:

De Line Pictures

Trivia:

Warner Bros. was concerned about the dark subject matter and demanded the production team come up with a "lighter, softer" version of the film. It wasn't until test audiences gave the edited version poorer test scores than the original version that Warner Bros. let them release the film in its original form.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Seth (Ronnie) is doing his monologue in the background when he's looking at himself in the mirror (right after the bench press scene), it is obvious there is a different person looking into the bogus mirror because his body movements are not consistent with his reflection.

Quotes:

Ronnie Barnhardt: You didn't bring enough pigs to stop me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Observe & Report/Gigantic/Hannah Montana: The Movie (#1.7)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Lightsabre C***sucking Blues

Disturbing and funny, but maybe not funny enough

We have a new auteur in comedy director/writer Jody Hill. With two films and one television series under his belt now, his vision is pretty clear: he makes comedies about nasty, mean-spirited people who can be extremely unpleasant to be around. His work divide audiences sharply, and even those who like it, like myself, have their reservations. Observe and Report is heavily influenced by Taxi Driver. Seth Rogen plays the head of mall security. He spends most of his days wishing he were more important, but he also likes to believe that he is very important where he is. He dreams of shooting the bad guys and getting the hot girl (Anna Faris, a bimbo who works at a makeup counter at the mall). When a local police detective (Ray Liotta) starts horning in on his mall and his girl, Rogen begins to fly off the handle. Like Hill's previous film, The Foot Fist Way, what Observe and Report really needs is a few more laughs. It was funny, but it always felt like it could be funnier. The movie's often very depressing, and Hill is effective in making those painful moments work. Even though Rogen is pretty crazy and frankly a bad person, I felt sorry for him. If Hill could pull off more humorous moments, the balance would work a lot better.