Paul Blart he ain’t

Observe and Report
Review by Nathan Weinbender

If Ronnie Barnhardt has any likable qualities, it’s because he’s played by Seth Rogen. This character is maladjusted, bipolar, creepy, hateful, pathetic and aggressive—who was in charge of the psychological evaluations when this guy was made head of mall security?

He takes his job very, very seriously. When a mall employee makes fun of a girl in a leg brace, he beats the guy’s head repeatedly into an oven door. And when he spots a bunch of punk kids loitering in the parking lot, he punches them out and breaks their skateboards. He’s like Paul Blart re-imagined by Martin Scorsese.

“Observe and Report” is the damnedest movie. It always seems to be contradicting its own style—it’s a comedy, but it undercuts its humor with sadness and violence. It’s an underdog story, but all of its characters are despicable, so there’s no one to really root for. And for every laugh the film offers, it throws us something so sick and subversive that we second guess ourselves.

But on with the plot. A serial flasher is accosting women in the mall parking lot, and cocky police detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) is assigned to the case. His presence infuriates Ronnie, who wants to take charge and save the day. Their rift only intensifies when the mall is burgled, and the men begin tripping over one another’s feet to solve the mystery first.

Their attention shifts when Brandi (Anna Faris), the blonde airhead at the cosmetics counter, is a victim of the flasher. She’s vain, arrogant and rude, and that she’s the object of Ronnie’s affection says more about him than it does her. When Ronnie tells her she’s the most beautiful woman in the world, she nods in agreement.

This is all fairly standard, but “Observe and Report” doubles in on itself and turns surreal and nasty. Take, for instance, one of the film’s strangest scenes: Ronnie, who dreams of one day being a cop, talks his way into riding along with Harrison on a police patrol. Harrison leaves him on “the worst street corner in the city,” where he’s cornered by a gang of crackheads who he proceeds to beat viciously with a nightstick.

Ronnie is seriously troubled, a laundry list of personality disorders. He’s like the guy who walks into work one day and shoots everybody, and on the news that night, they feature his associates in somber sound bites saying, “We should have seen that coming.” Most of the supporting characters are mercilessly mean to him; the others regard him with disgust, contempt or confusion.

We, in turn, are confused as well. How does this movie feel about its own main character? Should we be laughing at the guy? Should we feel sorry for him? Are we supposed to relate to him? We don’t know whether to give him a hug or run far, far away from him.

I felt that way about the whole movie, which has the uncanny ability to make us laugh and recoil in the same breath. The characters are funny, I guess, but they are so miserable and reprehensible that there are moments when we hate them and pity their ignorance. Feelings like that can be deadly to a comedy.

But I have to give writer-director Jody Hill credit for crafting a film that refuses to confine itself, that pushes the boundaries of mainstream comedy, and that challenges us to contemplate what should and shouldn’t be considered funny. “Observe and Report” is unlike anything I’ve seen before; whether or not that’s a compliment I have yet to decide.

Directed and written by Jody Hill. Starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta, Michael Pena, John Yuan, Matt Yuan, Jesse Plemons and Celia Weston. R; 86m.