Flashers and mall thieves beware: head security officer and bipolar Ronnie Barnhardt is ready to serve and protect — on mall property, at least. Laughter ensues as the new film “Observe and Report” hits the silver screen, filling theaters with hysteria.
Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) is head of security at Forest Ridge Mall, making sure that everything and everyone is safe, even though nearly everyone is disturbed and scared of Ronnie himself more than anything else at the mall. Ronnie is assisted by his right-hand man, Dennis (Michael Peña of “Babel”), the Yuen twins, John and Matt (John and Matt Yuan) and newbie Charles (Jesse Plemons of NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”).
One day, a mysterious flasher shows up and starts to flash people in the parking lot, along with Ronnie’s extreme crush Brandi (Anna Faris of “Scary Movie”), a vain and snooty department store makeup girl. Once the police and Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) get involved in the investigation, Ronnie starts to consider trading in his taser and keys for a badge and gun.
With perverts and thieves loose at his mall, the only ones who can comfort Ronnie are his semi-supportive and alcoholic mother (Celia Weston of “No Reservations”) and the cashier girl, Nell (Collette Wolfe of “Semi-Pro”), who gives him his daily free coffee. No criminal, whether it be a flasher, skateboarding punk or even an elementary student drug dealer, is safe from Ronnie Barnhardt.
From the outside, “Observe and Report” seems to be an adult version of “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” Of course by the trailers alone, anyone could tell that, although these films are different, this movie may not be filled with any more mature humor than “Blart.” The writers have definitely used all meanings of any curse words known in the making of this film, but that is just part of the hilarity in the movie.
Suffice to say, this movie is one of the strangest comedies out there. Ronnie’s obnoxiousness does get a bit irritating at times, but his ego is dealt a few blows (he’s referred to as a “rent-a-cop” by Detective Harrison), so it does add to the theme of the movie’s humor. The movie’s unique sense of humor may not appeal to everyone, but it should appeal to most guys and maybe even a few ladies.
Basically, if anyone has a strong stomach for drunken sex, extreme exposure and a script composed of 75 percent curse words, then they could probably see the humor in the rough and enjoy the film.
