Observe and Report

This Movie Made Me: Shocked (In a Good Way)


Let’s get this straight: Ronnie Barnhardt is more Travis Bickle than Paul Blart. Despite arriving only a few months later than this year’s other mall cop movie, Observe and Report is in no way a rip-off. Writer/director Jody Hill gives us an awkward comedy on steroids, where we’re the ones who are wonderfully disturbed by what we see.

Ronnie (Seth Rogen) is a bipolar mall cop at the Forest Ridge mall. He spends his days dispensing knowledge to his mall cop underlings, harassing a Middle Eastern vendor, and pining over make-up counter girl Brandi (Anna Faris.) But when a trenchcoat-wearing flasher appears in the parking lot, assaulting various women – including Brandi – Ronnie realizes he has a mission. He will be the one to track down the pervert, even as the city sends a snide detective (Ray Liotta) to head the investigation.

But instead of laughing at the deluded Ronnie, we’re troubled by him. Hill treats his illness with the utmost seriousness – and the violence that ensues from it is shockingly real. Ronnie’s life is incredibly dark – he still lives with his pass-out-on-the-floor drunk of a mom, and he’s completely unaware of how stupid people think he is. But that’s all part of the edgy humor. When vicious drug dealers on a street corner surround Ronnie, we’re genuinely afraid. But his bone-crunching, face-smashing revolt is at once hilarious and horrifying.

It’s to Rogen’s credit that Ronnie is as heartbreakingly ignorant as he is. He isn’t the lovable yet despised goof that Ace Ventura was – he’s a genuinely troubled individual whose delusions are more sad than funny, but Rogen and Hill find humor without shortchanging reality. Faris (America’s preeminent ditz) brilliantly channels her comedic strengths while making Brandi as realistic as Ronnie. She’s a heartless creature; when Ronnie takes her on a date and mistakes her increasing drunkenness for affection, we can’t help but cringe. Even so, Faris turns Brandi into one of the most hilarious onscreen drunks in years. And when the night ends in a decidedly unromantic tryst, we’re shocked once again.

Time and again, Hill pushes the limits of decency and challenges us not to laugh at it. Nearly every filmic taboo smashes us in the face – drug and alcohol abuse, rape, disturbing male nudity – but he manages to make it all right in the end. Ronnie is dangerous but earnest. Even if we’re afraid of what he might do, we want him to win. But when something goes right for Ronnie, we're both cheering and scratching our heads. We're happy he's happy, but we're also questioning our own sanity when we support him. It takes a lot of guts and skill to create such a deranged but likeable character (especially in a comedy), but Hill and Rogen pass with flying colors.

This comedy is as dark as dark can get. Ronnie is an unhinged person, and is often frightening in his intensity. We never know what he’s going to do next – but that’s all part of the fun. Observe and Report will probably be the most polarizing movie of the year, and I have to credit the studio for releasing the film the way it is. You may end up disgusted, but if you’re in the mood for a film unlike any other… Observe and Report is for you.

Fast & Furious

This Movie Made Me: Neither Fast Nor Furious

The newest installment of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise is SO exciting, they don’t even have time to waste on stuff like “the.” For all those people who thought the best part of the original film was its cast (and not something like… the cars), their prayers have finally been answered. And it only took Hollywood two films to hear them. But even with the reunited cast a couple of cool cars, there’s nothing in “Fast & Furious” to get remotely excited about.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are living the high life south of the border snatching oil and speeding under tumbling, fiery gas tanks. But when someone close to Dom is killed, he finds himself back in L.A. on a mission for revenge. His target: a Mexican drug lord who traffics goods over the border via a shaky (and completely CGIed) mine shaft in the mountains. Also on the case is FBI agent and former rival Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker), who puts his life and career on the line to bring the villain to justice. Dom’s terse sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) shows up once in a while, as do a few high-speed car chases.

But the film is focused on two men; one driven by revenge, one driven to do what’s right. So it’s clearly strong on plot. (Snicker.) But anyone who goes into a “Fast and Furious” film expecting a lot of plot is hopelessly deluded. What really matters is the awesome action. Unfortunately, the action here is decidedly unawesome. A race through the streets of L.A. is a pale imitations of the other movies, even with regular traffic providing lots of veering and horn honking. The rest of the film lets computers handle all the hard work. Only one problem: the graphics are at the level of a good Nintendo 64 game at best. It’s like watching someone else play “Cruis’n.”

A big point in the advertising has been its reunited cast – four of Hollywood’s best and brightest… eight years ago. Does it make a difference? Well, not really. No one is really required to do anything besides posing and looking nice. The most challenging thing Diesel and Walker have to do is be Aggressive (with a capital A!) – a.k.a. punching each other and shouting when any emotion is called for. While watching, one can’t help thinking that the only reason this movie was made was because none of them had anything else to do.

I’m willing to bet most moviegoers weren’t clamoring for a fourth “Fast and the Furious” movie, and this gives us no reason to be glad they actually did. Yes, they may have brought back all the original stars. But for all they’re given to do, they might as well have brought back all the original stunt drivers instead. It would be the same film. There was one exciting moment, however. Halfway through the first car chase, two people in the theater stood up and started yelling at each other. Now that was fast and furious!