Ray Reviews OBSERVE AND REPORT

I love black comedies. One of my favorite comedies ever is Heathers, a film blacker than Whoopi Goldberg's asshole. They say comedy is hard, but black comedies are even more difficult. Their success relies intimately on a carefully maintained tone. Tone is the big problem with the new Seth Rogen "comedy" OBSERVE AND REPORT. In it, Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, a pudgy and lonely mall security guard who dreams of becoming a real police officer. When the pretty makeup counter girl (Anna Faris) is attacked by a serial flasher, Ronnie attempts to solve the problem, much to the dismay of police detective Harrison (Ray Liotta). Ronnie might be one of the most unpleasant lead characters I have ever seen in a big budgeted feature film. He's racist, sexist, psychotic, and violent. Many reviews have compared him to Travis Bickle, Robert DeNiro's breakout character from TAXI DRIVER, but that comparison doesn't quite work here. TAXI DRIVER operated as a realistic and dramatic character study, while OBSERVE AND REPORT is playing like a comedy that appears to have little relation to the real world. An example of this problem comes early in the film. The distressed makeup girl is brought into the security office to discuss the flashing incident. In the room is Ronnie and Detective Harrison. Harrison is trying to comfort the girl and get information from her, and Ronnie constantly - and unrealistically - interrupts Harrison's questioning and mumbles to himself throughout. This kind of behavior would last three seconds in a real world setting. The net result of this scene is that the audience feels sympathy for the detective, and revulsion for the protagonist. I can't tell you how poisonous that is for a film's chances of success. Rogen does what he can with this role. He has a lot of onscreen charm, and he lights up the few lighter, more comedic moments in Ronnie's character. But most of what's written for Rogen in writer/director Jody Hill's script is beyond ludicrous, skewed too far into unpleasantness to ever win over an audience. The character is self-deluded to the extreme and violent without any apparent repercussions. One baffling scene involves Rogen and his second in command Dennis (Michael Pena) beating the shit out of skateboarders on the parking lot, but moments later Ronnie turns down the chance to steal something. Is this supposed to be a joke? If so, it's not particularly funny. Even less funny is Ronnie's rape of a drunken, puke-covered Faris. Again, I ask - is this supposed to be funny? Or is it some sort of serious message? I have no idea ... I just found it to be ugly for the sake of ugliness. The cast is also very talented, yet wasted here. Anna Faris does another one of her ditzy blonde routines, but it works. Pena has several memorable moments before his character arc takes a bizarre left turn and then disappears. The best performance on display here is Celia Weston as Ronnie's drunken, slutty mother. Her every nuance is worth savoring, but unfortunately her wonderful performance in this movie is like a beautiful flower growing in a pile of hog shit. I commend Hill for attempting to make a film this nasty and vicious. But even the darkest comedies and dramas need a character with whom audiences can relate. Veronica in HEATHERS was a shallow bitch, but we could relate to her plight and cheered her final decision to be something else. Here, the finale of the film wants us to celebrate Ronnie and his personal victory, but the character is so exhausting and unpleasant that we end up mocking him instead. We have nothing in this film to like, unless you like slow-motion shots of fat white guys streaking. I don't. This film is truly a mess.