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''Observe and Report'' is a 2009 American
black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...
written and directed by Jody Hill and starring Seth Rogen,
Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number o ...
and Ray Liotta. It follows a
mentally unstable ''Mentally'' is a 2017 Nigerian film written, produced and directed by James Abinibi. The movie stars Kunle Idowu, Toyin Abraham, Woli Arole and Adekunle Gold Synopsis The movie revolves around a young man who went to Lagos, a place where he ...
vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
mall cop A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...
who attempts to join the police academy and pursues a flasher tormenting female visitors to the mall where he works. It was released on April 10, 2009 and grossed $27 million.


Plot

An anonymous flasher exposes himself to shoppers in the Forest Ridge Mall parking lot. The head of mall security, Ronnie Barnhardt, makes it his mission to apprehend the offender. However, while Ronnie is ostensibly well-intentioned and valiant in his own mind, in reality he is emotionally unstable with
vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
tendencies, apparently experiencing
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
and displaying violent ideation, among other problems. The criminal activity at the mall continues as the flasher exposes himself to make-up counter worker Brandi and a masked robber causes property damage at a shoe store. In both instances, Detective Harrison, a police detective, arrives to investigate. The two dislike each other, as Ronnie believes Harrison is taking over his proper role as investigator and Harrison believes that Ronnie is disrupting the investigation. Ronnie decides to take steps to become a police officer. As part of his preparations, Ronnie decides to ride along with Detective Harrison. Harrison tricks him into walking into the most dangerous part of town and drives off. Ronnie then confronts and subsequently assaults several drug dealers, victoriously returning to the police station with a dealer's son and thanking the detective for the opportunity to prove himself. Emboldened, Ronnie arranges a date with Brandi. On their date, she sees him taking a prescription clonazepam and assumes that Ronnie takes them recreationally. She asks him to share and he gives her the entire bottle, believing he does not need his prescription anymore. Ronnie takes her home and has sex with her while she is semi-conscious. Ronnie passes the background check and physical examination for the police officer job, but fails the psychological examination. Nell, a friendly food court worker, tearfully shares that her coworker, Trina, and her boss, Roger, tease her for having her leg in a cast. Ronnie then beats up Roger and warns him and Trina not to harass Nell again. Depressed, he is persuaded by fellow security officer Dennis to spend the day doing a wide variety of drugs and assaulting skateboarding teenagers. At the end of the day, Dennis reveals that he is the one who has been stealing from the mall. Ronnie insists this is wrong and, after a brief argument, Dennis knocks him unconscious and flees. Ronnie decides to go undercover in order to catch the flasher, but when he catches Brandi having sex with Harrison in the parking lot, he confronts her in front of onlookers at the mall the next day, blowing his cover and destroying a display case. The police are summoned and Ronnie fights them off, defeating the regular officers, until he is overpowered by Harrison and arrested. A few days later, Ronnie's mother gives him a postcard from Dennis in Mexico, who respects Ronnie for caring so much. Ronnie returns to the mall, despondent that he no longer works security. He discovers that Nell's cast has been removed. She kisses him just before the flasher arrives and exposes himself to the food court. After a brief chase, Ronnie incapacitates the flasher by shooting him in the shoulder. As he picks the bleeding flasher up, Brandi thanks him, but he rejects and publicly humiliates her for sleeping with Harrison. Ronnie brings the flasher to the police station, gloating that he has won by apprehending him. Ronnie is subsequently interviewed by the local news, having regained his job and begun dating Nell.


Cast

* Seth Rogen as Ronnie Barnhardt * Ray Liotta as Detective Harrison Jones * Collette Wolfe as Nell Jones *
Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number o ...
as Brandi Gaffney * Michael Peña as Dennis Chavante *
Jesse Plemons Jesse Plemons (; born April 2, 1988) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a career breakthrough with his major role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He subseque ...
as Charles Gaffney * Aziz Ansari as Saddamn *
Dan Bakkedahl Dan Bakkedahl (born November 18, 1969) is an American actor and improvisational comedian. He is best known for starring as Tim Hughes on the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'', as Congressman Roger Furlong on the HBO series ''Veep'', and as Steve Nuge ...
as Mark *
John Yuan Matthew "Matt" and John Yuan, also known collectively as The Yuan Twins, (born December 14, 1973) are American twin actors, writers and comic book artists. They wrote the micro-budget zombie film, '' Death Valley: The Revenge of Bloody Bill'' for ...
as John Yuen *
Matthew Yuan Matthew "Matt" and John Yuan, also known collectively as The Yuan Twins, (born December 14, 1973) are American twin actors, writers and comic book artists. They wrote the micro-budget zombie film, '' Death Valley: The Revenge of Bloody Bill'' for ...
as Matt Yuen * Celia Weston as Mrs. Barnhardt *
Randy Gambill Randy Gambill is an American film and television actor. Career Gambill made his acting début as The Gentle Warrior in the low-budget, comedy film '' Foot Fist Way'' (2006) directed by Jody Hill; he also served as the film's production designer. ...
as Pervert *
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
as Roger *
Ben Best Benjamin Terrell Best (September 11, 1974 – September 10, 2021) was an American actor, writer, musician, and producer. Best attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with frequent collaborator ...
as Detective Okarski * Danny McBride as Caucasian Crackhead *
Lauren Miller Lauren Anne Miller Rogen (née Miller; born July 24, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and director. She has appeared in the films ''Superbad'' (2007), ''Zack and Miri Make a Porno'' (2008), and '' 50/50'' (2011). In 2012, s ...
as Trina * Alston Brown as Bruce * Cody Midthunder as D-Rock


Production

The film was shot on location in the largely abandoned Winrock Shopping Center in
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
.
''Observe and Report Review'' 18 Mar 2009. Retrieved 1 Apr 2009.
Filming began around May 2008. At the request of the studio, during the test screening stage the filmmakers created a version of the film that was more toned down, but that was scrapped as the test screening scores for the new version were lower than the original.


Writing

''Observe and Report'' was written and directed by Jody Hill. The megalomaniac, manic-depressive security guard Ronnie has been compared to Travis Bickle in
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
's ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...
''; Hill has mentioned it and also Scorsese's '' The King of Comedy'' as significant influences. The film has drawn some attention for having a plot revolving around a "mall cop" like the 2009 family comedy '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop''. Seth Rogen, in an interview with '' GQ'', noted his awareness of another "mall cop" movie being made: However, in 2019, Rogen expressed anger at his discovery that ''Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' had "gotten the script and ripped us off, even though they're very different movies...One way or another I'm not thrilled with ''Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' in relation to how ''Observe and Report'' was received." In comparing the two, ''Observe and Report'' was dubbed by some reviewers as "the dark mall cop movie".Campbell, Christopher
Observe and Report = The Dark Mall Cop. Today in Film Bloggery 02/09/09
, ''Splout Blog'', 9 Feb 2009. Retrieved 14 Mar 2009.
Legel, Laremy
Five Reasons Seth Rogen's Observe and Report Will Own Paul Blart
''
Film.com RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of artificial intelligence and computer vision based products. RealNetworks was a pioneer in Internet streaming software and services. They are based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The company also p ...
'', 2 Feb 2009. Retrieved 14 Mar 2009.
Ponto, Arya.
"Observe and Report"—No, It's Not Another "Paul Blart"
''Just Press Play'' 7 Feb 2009. Retrieved 14 Mar 2009.


Reception


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 211 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though it has a mean streak, and does not cater to all tastes, ''Observe and Report'' has gut-busting laughs and a fully committed Seth Rogen in irresistible form." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film received a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale. Peter Travers of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the film a rating of three out of four stars, saying, "Hill is fearless at pushing hot buttons: date rape, shooting up and worse," and "Rogen is nutso hilarious, nailing every note of mirth and malice." Conversely, Peter Bradshaw of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' awarded the movie one star out of five and disparaged Rogen's performance, writing "for Seth Rogen fans like me, this charmless, heavy-handed and cynical comedy is an uncomfortable experience." Paul Byrnes wrote in, "Much of the movie is just plain vicious. At best, it's sad and grotesque, rather than hilarious," while Manohla Dargis of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' stated "if you thought
Abu Ghraib Abu Ghraib (; ar, أبو غريب, ''Abū Ghurayb'') is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road t ...
was a laugh riot you might love ''Observe and Report''." She continued, "It's far better and certainly easier ... to sit back and relax and enjoy the show. That, after all, is precisely what
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
banks on each time it manufactures a new entertainment for a public that—as the stupid, violent characters who hold up a mirror to that public indicate—it views with contempt." The film drew criticism for its comedic portrayal of date rape from a number of notable publications, including ''Vulture'', ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. On their date, Brandi drinks copious amounts of alcohol at the restaurant and afterward asks Ronnie for a bottle of his prescription medication, clonazepam, a combination which leaves Brandi so incapacitated that she can neither stand on her own nor open her eyes. Despite the fact that Brandi is clearly inebriated and unfit to give consent, Ronnie kisses her after she vomits and engages in intercourse with her as she lies motionless on the bed, stopping once he notices she appears to be unconscious, before Brandi asks him why he stopped. During an interview on '' The Howard Stern Show'', Rogen stated he was disappointed by the film's overall reception, but proud that "the only two people who liked it" were
Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
and
David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
.


Box office

The film grossed $11 million in its opening weekend (an average of $4,085 at 2,727 theaters), finishing in fourth place, behind '' Hannah Montana: The Movie'', ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...
'', and ''
Monsters vs. Aliens ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated monster comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman from a screenplay written by L ...
'' (also featuring Rogen). It ultimately grossed $27 million at the box office. To date, it is the third lowest-grossing film of Rogen's starring career, before '' Take this Waltz'' and ''
The Interview ''The Interview'' is a 2014 satirical alternate history action-comedy film co-produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following ''This Is the End'' (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Sterl ...
.''


Release

The film was released on April 10, 2009 in the United States.


Home media

The film was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on September 22, 2009.


Soundtrack

''Observe and Report: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released on April 7, 2009 by New Line Records. # "
When I Paint My Masterpiece "When I Paint My Masterpiece" is a 1971 song written by Bob Dylan. It was first released by The Band, who recorded the song for their album '' Cahoots'', released on September 15, 1971. Background Dylan himself first recorded the song at New Y ...
" by The Band – 4:18 # "The Man" by
Patto Patto were an English rock band, formed in London in 1970. Founded by vocalist Mike Patto, their lineup was taken from Timebox, consisting of vocalist Patto, guitarist and vibraphone player Ollie Halsall, bassist Clive Griffiths and drummer ...
 – 6:07 # "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues" by McLusky – 1:51 # "Sittin' Back Easy" by Patto – 3:35 # "Brain" by
The Action The Action were an English band of the 1960s, formed as the Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music. Career The band was formed as the Boys in Au ...
 – 2:59 # "
Over Under Sideways Down "Over Under Sideways Down" is a 1966 song by English rock group the Yardbirds. A composition credited to all members of the group, it combines elements of blues rock and psychedelic rock. It was first released as a single in May 1966 as a follow-u ...
" by
The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
 – 2:22 # "Dwarves Must Die" by Dwarves – 1:23 # " Help Is on Its Way" by Little River Band – 4:00 # "Where Is My Mind?" by City Wolf – 4:27 # "Babyteeth" by Pyramid – 4:10 # "Observe and Report Score Suite" by Joseph Stephens – 4:04 # "Super Freek (Remix)" by Amanda Blank, Nina Cream, and
Aaron LaCrate Aaron LaCrate is an American music producer, recording artist, disk jockey, DJ, fashion designer of Milkcrate Records and Milkcrate clothing, and a film director. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Highlandtown; East Baltimore. Aar ...
 – 2:26 The
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
songs "
It's Late "It's Late" is a song written by Queen guitarist Brian May and performed by the band for their 1977 album, ''News of the World''. Background The song was May's idea of treating a song as a three-act theatrical play, and the verses are called ...
" and "
The Hero The Hero may refer to: Books * "The Hero" (poem), a poem written by Rabindranath Tagore * ''The Hero'' (novel), a science fiction novel by John Ringo and Michael Z. Williamson * '' The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama'', a book by Fi ...
" are featured in the film but not included on the soundtrack.


References


External links

* * * * * {{Authority control 2009 films 2009 black comedy films American black comedy films American satirical films Bipolar disorder in fiction Films about security and surveillance Films directed by Jody Hill Films set in shopping malls Films shot in New Mexico Films produced by Donald De Line Legendary Pictures films American vigilante films Warner Bros. films 2000s vigilante films 2009 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films