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Visual:		5.0
Audio:		5.0
Acting:		7.0
Writing:		6.0
Score:		6.0

Director(s):	Jody Hill
Writer(s):	Jody Hill
Starring:	Anna Faris • Ray Liotta • Seth Rogen
Genre:	Comedy
Website:	http://observe-and-report.warnerbros.com/
Release Date:	April 10, 2009
Rated:

Even the Rat Pack had an entourage—the hangers-on who show up in many of the same films or productions, but never achieved group title status.  As does modern-day Hollywood’s “Frat Pack,” made up of the leading men in the comedy genre.  While there are only seven official members of the unofficial group, there are many friends of the Frat Pack that might be considered “junior members.”

The curly-haired funny man Seth Rogen is one of the Frat Pack’s pals and has gained himself a bona fide Hollywood reputation since his early days on the fast-cancelled television show, Freaks and Geeks.  After some minor roles in major Frat Pack flicks, Rogen gained speed—his latest comedy, Observe and Report, has got him in the lead role as a bipolar mall security guard.

The premise probably sounds familiar, as it’s a similar character to the Kevin James movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop, released mid-January. That said, they are pretty dissimilar, it’s just unfortunate timing for both.

In Observe, Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) is the head officer at a suburban mall who can be best described as a boondini—a word my friend’s Midwestern mother used to say to characterize a self-important person who takes their job too seriously, bosses others around, and essentially fails to realize any of it.

When a man starts exposing himself on mall grounds, the boondini rent-a-cop takes it upon himself to hand out assignments to his team of mall guards--his right hand man Dennis, played by Michael Peña. He becomes entrenched in this operation further when his make-up-counter crush Brandi (Anna Faris), is flashed in the parking lot and thrown into a state of shock at the unwelcome trench coat surprise.

The unfit crew led by an unfit chief is undermined when the mall's top man calls the police in—a detective played by Ray Liotta—to catch the “pervert.” Ronnie and Detective Harrison's clashes make for some nicely timed jokes and give Ronnie the motivation to join the police force. Ronnie's life is finally falling into place: he thinks he can pass the tests to become an officer and after one messily drunken date with Brandi he's got the girlfriend of his dreams -- every bipolar security guard has his day right?

According to Observe and Report, medication works—going off the pills creates a rollercoaster of emotions for the security guard. After he dabbles with drugs (Writer/director Jody Hill paying homage to a very particular shot in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting) and alcohol, he spirals into various madcap situations between him and the police, and him and his one true enemy—the flasher.

This film is imparted with the classic trilogy that causes these Frat Pack (and friends of) comedies to work: first, they’re funny; second, they’re completely over-the-top; and third, they’re funny because they’re over-the-top.

For instance, a chubby bipolar security guard is funny. A security guard who can take out six tough drug dealers by himself is, let's face it—over-the-top and unrealistic. But that same guard who is later faced with a crew of police officers with guns who he manages to trounce one by one, armed only with the flashlight in his holster, is hilarious because it's so far-fetched.

Moments like that make these zany comedies what they are. While I didn't enjoy Observe and Report’s laughs as much as other films Rogen has appeared in, like Superbad or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, it's still worth a look if these semi-outlandish comedies are your bag. The film’s screwball situations poke fun at real-life drama; but the main complaint here is that while the film is funny like the others in its class, it takes some of the made-to-be-funny violence and exploits it for pure shock-value, degrading the quality of the film, overall. The beauty of this type of comedy is it allows the viewer to relish in the wacky humor, you don’t want to have to question whether or not it’s realistic.

Observe’s editing was somewhat sloppy in the beginning and while the hand-held camerawork used to follow the flasher in his parking lot pursuit of unsuspecting ladies was appreciated in it's attempt to provide a point of view style image—it made the entire sequence feel amateurish.  But what the new director lacks in filmmaking skills, the talented comedic cast made up for in their delivery—nothing amateurish about it. Faris played her character similarly to her other comedic roles, like her Scary Movie characters. Does anyone really play the dumb blonde better than Faris?

While it wasn't surprising to see Liotta cast as the detective, it was surprising to see Michael Peña playing a goofy security guard—a complete opposite of his well-known dramatic performances in films like Lions for Lambs, Babel, and World Trade Center. It was as if he aimed to parody his portrayals of the cop-type character he played in each of them—while he held his own in Observe, Peña plays dramatic roles with more determination.

But as expected, Rogen's performance was a wonderful blend of entertaining and focused. His comedic timing is extremely precise, and his tender nature makes him the kind of guy who you hope always gets the girl in the end. Rogen brings so much personality and so little ego to his characters, that he charms audiences—even when he is playing a bipolar, anger-crazed, boondini security guard.

Either the Frat Pack needs to let him in, or he should start his own group because he is certainly worthy of given the Pack’s esteemed seven, a run for their money.