The preview screening of Observe and Report I attended last night was a well-spent 2 hours. The set-up: Seth Rogen plays a shopping mall head of security who takes his job a little too seriously. When a flasher makes a spree through the mall's parking lot, and a robbery takes place a couple of days later, Rogen feels duty-bound to find criminal/s responsible. He becomes territorial when veteran detective Ray Liotta begins investigating the two crimes, and unwittingly makes an ass of himself trying to show him up. He also gains the confidence to pursue his dream girl, cosmetics associate Anna Farris (a hilarious supporting role, rather than the co-lead the marketing suggests). But it seems that the harder Rogen tries the worse things get for him.
Visually, sophomore director Jody Hill shows a Wes Anderson influence on occasion; the takes are shorter, cuts more frequent, but there are a lot of stationery shots, and a bright, pleasant color palette. The pacing of the movie is excellent, the jokes intrinsic to the forward movement of the narrative, moving along at a chuckle-a-minute pace.
The humor will certainly not be to everyone's taste. This is a nihilistic comedy. The supporting players provide some reliable laughs, but there is not a set-up-punchline format to guide viewers through. And Rogen is dragged through the mud quite a bit, largely through his own oblivious behavior. It is a little painful at times, but the more Rogen is dragged down, the more engaging the character becomes. By the end of the film, I knew a Hollywood ending not forthcoming. It seemed the only plausible outcome was something depressing and ugly, and any kind of happy conclusion for the protagonist would ring of inauthenticity. I was wrong, it turns out. The closing scenes are gut-busting and satisfying, and in keeping with the overall feeling of the movie.
I stop short of calling it groundbreaking, but Observe and Report has a much fresher and more original feel to it than most studio comedies. I recommend it whole-heartedly.
Visually, sophomore director Jody Hill shows a Wes Anderson influence on occasion; the takes are shorter, cuts more frequent, but there are a lot of stationery shots, and a bright, pleasant color palette. The pacing of the movie is excellent, the jokes intrinsic to the forward movement of the narrative, moving along at a chuckle-a-minute pace.
The humor will certainly not be to everyone's taste. This is a nihilistic comedy. The supporting players provide some reliable laughs, but there is not a set-up-punchline format to guide viewers through. And Rogen is dragged through the mud quite a bit, largely through his own oblivious behavior. It is a little painful at times, but the more Rogen is dragged down, the more engaging the character becomes. By the end of the film, I knew a Hollywood ending not forthcoming. It seemed the only plausible outcome was something depressing and ugly, and any kind of happy conclusion for the protagonist would ring of inauthenticity. I was wrong, it turns out. The closing scenes are gut-busting and satisfying, and in keeping with the overall feeling of the movie.
I stop short of calling it groundbreaking, but Observe and Report has a much fresher and more original feel to it than most studio comedies. I recommend it whole-heartedly.