Such a frustrating disappointment

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Don't believe the reviews! This film is a stellar piece of cinema. The score predominantly dictates the emotions characters have during scenes. Some bits may meander but the articulation of this film is beyond measure. Despite the ovassional misstep THIS FILM is a modern day classic. The hero's journey conveyed in a truly distinct way!

I love black comedy. I even like dumb movies. But this one thinks it is more than it is, ad therefore deserves a really low rating. It isn't funny in the least. There is not one likable character. Well I guess the coffee girl. But manly it's just a bunch of loud, misfires rolling by, one after another. No sense of reason in he story line. Take the Danny McBride series, the Sasha Cohen films, there is a story line, and one scene follows another for a reason. I couldn;t figure out what this was about. Ray Liotta's character?? Pena ? Who does Seth Rogen know in H'wood that he keeps getting all these films made? He is lame to the max. I did think it was funny that the flasher was very...small.

At first glance an inevitable comparison to the Kevin James vehicle 'Paul Blart' springs to mind. To be fair you wouldn't be all that far off either, the whole basis for this film is very similar lets be honest. Both characters are working as security men in a mall and are wannabe cops. Both characters are portrayed as taking their job way too seriously when in reality they are merely shop attendants in a blue uniform. And both characters try to change their lives by applying for a job on the police force despite everyone thinking they haven't got a chance.So yeah its pretty similar, the only major difference is the fact Rogen's character in this film is more unhinged and eerily prone to violent anger outbursts. This of course can be hilarious at times with Rogen's great comic personality and chubby features, but at the same time its also a bit disturbing and uncomfortable too.There are plenty of scenes in this which made me laugh out loud, the way Ronnie (Rogen) organises his small team of security men with the up most importance, as if they were special ops. His awkwardness around sexy perfume saleswoman Brandi (Farris perfectly cast as your typical airhead blonde...again), the way he acts with jealousy around real cop 'Harrison' (Liotta), his ongoing feud with Arab shopkeeper Saddamn and the way he exposes himself as slightly deranged, depressive and possibly dangerous to various people, especially in the police psychological examination.On the flip side there are times when the film feels ugly vicious a bit sad and over the top with the violence, profanity and blood. The sequence where Rogen's character takes Brandi out for a meal, she gets drunk and then they end up having sex, is rather dubious. Why? because Brandi is completely out of it and vomiting whilst Ronnie is banging her. It does seem a tad like rape, but at the same time the sight of Farris' head lurching to one side with puke on the pillow whilst Ronnie goes at it is amusing I can't deny, a nervous laugh there.There are other moments throughout which seem to go a bit too far also, showing 'Ronnie's' anger, the fight with the cops and Liotta's character, and the finale for the flasher. Its all kinda funny but kinda edgy too, at times you're thinking is it OK to laugh at this?Saying this is a dark comedy is an understatement, its darkly dark alright and Rogen's cynical, sinister, in your face performance will either leave you laughing, cogitating or hating. I think I prefer this over the Kevin James film simply because Rogen's performance is appealing to me here plus this film is more grounded ('Blart' goes down that 'Die Hard' route). The ending is a bit simple and anti climatic but its a totally fun and rather controversial ride to get there.6/10

On the surface, Observe and Report looks like the sort of cynical black comedy your parents would love to hate. Yet to my surprise I found it to be a movie of genuine substance. Rather than just giving me another reason to laugh at the chaos of life, it sneakily suggests an uncomfortable truth - that maybe everything is not meaningless, and maybe, just maybe, there is still something of value worth fighting for in this superficial pre-packaged life. When you "get" this movie, you realise it's not the post-modern mental chewing gum kids want, but rather a twisted but moral tale that parents should cheer... and it's this fact that made me laugh the most. This is a clever, interesting movie that betrays the expectations of the modern liberal audience - and I think this is why so many critics have panned it. They just wanted mental chewing gum, but got mental All-Bran instead. Observe and Report is a smirking, cynical tale about a typical "white trash" guy that few people have respect for, someone altogether forgettable and easy to mock - the mall security guard. Ronnie is the typical mall security guard supervisor, someone we know and generally dislike - a jumped up pseudo-cop who's modicum of power gives him a sense of excess, undeserved pride. Ronnie starts off as the fairly pathetic nobody we expect him to be - and we laugh at his antics. Yet despite his weaknesses, obsessions and sad life, Ronnie slowly proves himself to be someone bigger than he should be, and it's all because he believes in something genuinely good and real. Regardless of his borderline insanity, by the end, his stand for what he believes in earns him something we all want - respect and meaning in life. This movie cleverly takes us from using our own prejudices to laugh at Ronnie (as most movies do), to uncomfortably realising that maybe we suck for having these prejudices, because Ronnie, despite his own prejudices, limitations, and crappy life, actually believes in (and acts on) something good - and this alone makes him a valuable human being. So what if his achievements are small. So what is his life has its crappy parts. So what if he's borderline delusional. Ronnie has a belief in something that valuable to others... and in the end, he wins.There are enough reviews out there giving details of this movie's plot, so I won't get it that much. I just wanted to let you know that Observe and Report is on the surface a black, post-modern comedy, but underneath it's a story using a theme we all love, delivered in its own quirky way - the little guys overcomes adversity, takes up the challenge and in the end, wins the girl and the respect of his peers. I really enjoyed this movie and look forward to watching it again. If you like black humour and character-driven drama that doesn't pull its punches then you will really enjoy Observe and Report.