Rated: R
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Year: 2009
Nudity: One Pair of Boobs
One Sentence: Seth Rogen goes dark, and it is not pretty.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this was, Very Bad Things, and that is a Very Bad Thing. There is a level where dark goes too dark and you push into the realm of Very Bad Things. This movie was filled with those things. I am all for pushing it, but sometimes you just gotta pull it back in so you are not just going crazy on your audience. Observe and Report could have used some of that restraint.
Seth Rogan is the most un-funny I have ever seen him here, and this movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it delves into some darker places that I think someone else would have been better suited for. Not that Seth could not handle it, or didn't do it well, it's just that we have come to expect something from Mr. Rogan and this was not it. Ironically a character in the movie said, "I thought this was going to be really funny, but it just is kind of sad." This is pretty accurate for Seth Rogan's character and the movie as a whole, we think it is going to be funny, but it just ends up being sad.
There isn't much here to like, unless you liked Very Bad Things, then I think you should go for Observe And Report. I think it just goes a bit too dark, and too real for the level of comedy it tries to portray next to that comedy. Along with a whole slew of horrible characters, it makes for you not wanting to support, care, or enjoy thier downfalls which are not lighthearted in any way. I would skip completly unless you like the sound of it, then it's a rental for sure.
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