Seth Rogen is no Paul Blart. The second mall-cop movie of the year is sure to separate itself from its predecessor with disturbing violence and filthy, mature humor.
Rogen stars in Observe and Report, an absurd comedy directed and written by Jody Hill. Rogen plays bipolar mall cop Ronnie Barnhardt, who dreams of seducing the makeup-counter girl (Anna Faris), catching the flasher who haunts the mall's parking lot and becoming a respected police officer.
When Ronnie is unable to catch the flasher, a bitter, veteran detective (Ray Liotta) is brought in to close the case. The infringement on Ronnie's turf causes his life, and the movie, to branch off on a number of tenuously linked tangents.
The film's plot is unsettling uneven. Hill's script is scattered and reflects poorly on the writer/director's abilities with a screenplay. The script can be jarringly funny, surprising and shocking the viewer while Rogen's delivery hammers the jokes home.
At other times, the film is packed with cliched "twists" and moments where Hill tries to be serious and emotional for some inconceivable reason. But there is no sympathy for the troubled Barnhardt, since his actions border on the insane and range from incomprehensible to disturbing.
The script is a comedic, mall-cop take on Taxi Driver. This combination will draw some laughs but mostly groans, moans and confusion. As one of the film's detectives aptly puts it, "I thought this would be funny, but frankly it's just sad. I'm going to go now."
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