Marathon of Shops: Observe and Report (2009)

Many movies take a job that would normally be considered mundane and spice it up through action, comedy, romance, or any of the other movie genres.  The most recently watched movie in the Marathon of Shops took each of the three mentioned genres and mashed them together.  It churned out a product that nobody could have expected.  The product was Observe and Report.

Observe and Report was a 2009 release directed by Jody Hill.  It starred Seth Rogen as the head of security at a mall where robberies were taking place, and a streaker was on the loose.  He lusted after a cosmetic counter worker played by Anna Faris, and was antagonized by a police officer played by Ray Liotta.  Also in the movie were Michael Pena, Jesse Plemons, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, and Collette Wolfe, among others.

Look at this team.  This is a good team.

Seth Rogen carried Observe and Report as much as he could have.  There are some major issues with the film, but he manages to keep it grounded enough that it was watchable the whole way through.  He gave the best performance in the movie, which should be the case since he was the star.  He played the underlying rage and insanity perfect, as well as the outward rage and insanity.  Rogen scared you in his role, while also giving a twisted, believable performance.  It was a fine line to ride, and Rogen did it beautifully.

On the flip side of that, Michael Pena gives one of the worst performances he ever has in Observe and Report.  Though a lot of the performance was due to the character, the mannerisms, the way he spoke, and his presence all seemed terrible.  Whatever Pena thought he was going for, he should have gone somewhere else with it.  His performance did not work, and clashed against everything else in the movie.  The character had his place in the movie and it was a fairly important role, but the performance of the character worked against the dark humor of the rest of the movie.

Here she comes.  And there she goes.

The final half hour of Observe and Report was what kept it from being an okay movie and brought it up to another level.  Everything that happened prior culminated into a couple of great action beats that were mixed with the perfect amount of the dark humor that overwhelmed the rest of the movie.   The first two thirds of the movie were a downward spiral into darkness that was slightly comedic.  The last third brings the release of that spiral and allows the story to breathe again in a well balanced, darkly comedic way.  Dark comedy, much like Rogen’s performance, rides a very fine line.  In the first two thirds, it crossed into too dark for portions of it.  In the last third, it perfectly rode the line and brought a great conclusion to the film.

Observe and Report definitely improved upon a second viewing.  Perhaps with future viewings, my opinion on the first two thirds of the movie will change.  My opinion on the final half hour sure changed.  This movie will not be for everyone.  It is not a four quadrant movie in any way.  There is a small crowd that will champion this movie.  If you are interested in it at all, check it out.  It is worth the watch.

Up next in the Marathon of Shops is Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  This is the other mall security movie that was released in 2009.  These two movies are the Armageddon and Deep Impact of 2009.  They are the Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror of 2009.  They are the Volcano and Dante’s Peak of 2009.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

Now where's that sunset? I need something to ride off into.