But then I remembered, its only opinion, and isn't that the whole point, the very idea of this blog? Oh yeah, if you're one of those people who don't like to read things with spoilers in them and you actually intend on seeing this movie, then don't read the below.
Suffice it to say the film was not to my tastes. I was expecting a departure from his normal roles for Rogen which was probably the main reason I even decided to go see this film opening night. In a sense the role was a tad different for Rogen. In most films he's played something of a young stoner-loser guy who is faced with a-typical life decisions and must force himself to mature in order to change. In Observe and Report, Rogen again is a loser of sorts, living with his dead beat Alcoholic of a mother, and working as the head of mall security. He doesn't really have a problem with where he's at until a "pervert" comes into the picture flashing his genitals in front of women in the parking lot, which spawns an idea of being a crime fighter and eventually the desire for Ronnie, played by Rogen, to try and become a Police Officer.
Along the way we learn that he's pseudo in love if not obsessed with Brandi, one of the make-up counter girls played by Anna Faris, who is one of the flashers victims thus sparking a main catalyst for Ronnie to be "the hero." Sounds like a decent enough start and this is basically what one would assume from seeing trailers or watching Comedy Central specials on the film. I certainly did.
I also gathered that this was intended to be kind of a dark/gross-out comedy written and directed by Jody Hill, formerly of The Foot Fist Way.
I'm kind of big on expectations. When a movie gets too hyped, even if it's good, I will somehow usually be dissapointed. This being the case, some of the best movies I've ever seen have been ones I had no idea about before seeing them. I can remember walking into the theater to see this weird movie called Memento and walking out with my mind blown, returning several times in the ensuing month to see it again.
Now, my expectations of this movie weren't high, but I always have a problem with movies when they are marketed incorrectly. I was reading somewhere, I don't know where, maybe something by David Mamet, where he said that the marketing of feature films now days is such a huge part of the movie going process. In a sense trailers exist to not only advertise the movie itself, but also to serve as genre cues so that we the audience know what to expect when we go see it. If we see the trailer for a movie like Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, for example, we know what to expect: A way too tanned Matthew McConaughey getting into various shenanigans as bachelor and eventually find his way around to being a respectable man. We also know that this will be sappy, it'll be funny in parts (if you are into that), and by golly, I'll bet he'll leave the film with a better understanding of women than where he was at the beginning.
My problem with Observe and Report is that is was marketed as a comedy. I did know, from watching the Comedy Central special that it was "dark" and that there were some gross out type images in there, but that is to be suspected ever since we saw the beans above the frank in There's Something About Mary. If you go into Observe and Report, thinking of watching another dark comedy, like I did, you will be sorely disappointed. Most who know me know that I'm big on dark and cynical humor. I find things funny that most don't. But the graphic images in Observe and Report were too much for even me. And at least in my theater I wasn't alone. The shrieks and oohs when we see Brandi passed out, vomit on her mouth with a passionate Ronnie humping away, were not "oh ha ha" they were more "oh thats messed up."
Then there was the end which was the capper so-to-speak. Yes I'll spoil it for you. As the streaker runs in slow motion, penis dangling everywhere for the better part of 5 minutes mind you, he approaches a frightened Brandi. There's a back and forth montage which is pretty funny as Anna Faris' face lights up in horror at the oncoming naked man. Then just as you would expect a slow motion Ronnie jumping from screen right tackling the pervert, BAM! Ronnie steps in with a gun, fires a shot into the chest of the pervert forcing him to fly back on the ground blood going everywhere. Yah, it was like standing in line to kiss the pretty girl at the carnival and instead of a kiss you get a nice punch right in the nose.
Aside from the gratuitous violence and sexual images the overall tone of the movie was pretty depressing to me. It was a little too real. The scenes with his mother made you almost want to cry because Celia Weston's performance was so good it was like watching an episode of intervention where someone is just falling into the depths of alcoholism.
So why do some dark comedy's work and this one didn't for me? It all boils down to the juxtaposition of darker elements and the comedic aspects. The funny lines and characterizations where provided by a cast, not too mention entirely given away in the trailer, and were nothing new. We see Anna Faris doing what she does and being funny, then Rogen of course doing what he does albeit with a little more depth this time. The point being, the comedy was a little too slapstick and light for the dark subject matter of the film. It would be like watching In The Bedroom staring the cast of The 40 Year Old Virgin adding in some funny one liners. You might get some funny performances, but overall it'd probably leave a bad taste in your mouth.
There was one upside to the film for me. That was the soundtrack. A lot of great music played. There was even a moment I did laugh out loud. I was sitting there watching the film with this feeling in my mind, and I was trying to come up with how I felt. Then at some point Rogen's character holds a picture of the flasher's penis up for the audience to see, and then licks it and puts it on his forehead. Later in the film it hit me. I thought, "this is what the kids seeing the new Disney movie in Fight Club must have felt like when flashed a picture of a big juicy cock." The laughter came when I realized this and the 1988 Pixies song "Where Is My Mind" (apparently according to one source performed by City Wolf for this movie), made famous for the end credits song of Fight Club, comes on towards the end of the film. Now that made me laugh.
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