Seth Rogen has had a fascinating career ever since he debuted in 1999’s Freaks and Geeks. In fact, pretty much everybody has their own favorite Seth Rogen movie (and I’m just talking about the ones that he’s acted in. I’m not even referring to the films that he’s produced, like my favorite TMNT movie, Mutant Mayhem).
That said, with such an impressive filmography, some movies might get forgotten. Like, Kevin Smith fans aside, do you remember Zack and Miri Make a Porno? What about the romantic comedy, You, Me & Dupree? I mean, I’m not saying either movie is bad (I actually like both of them), but I’m just illustrating that most people probably wouldn’t put them on their list of the best Seth Rogen movies.
However, one film that might get put on that list (but still gets slept on) is Observe and Report, which is my favorite Seth Rogen movie. Now, I know back when it debuted in 2009, people compared it to Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but the two films couldn’t be any more different. So, here’s why Observe and Report is my favorite Seth Rogen movie.
First Off, This Movie Is SO FREAKING DARK
I know Observe and Report is labeled as a comedy, but, I don’t ever see it labeled as a “dark” comedy, and it definitely is. I once wrote about Robin Williams’ dark comedies that people should check out, and even though he’s not in this film, I think he would have fit right in since this movie does not hold back on the dark side of comedy.
For example, our protagonist, Ronnie Barnhardt, definitely should not be a police officer, let alone in mall security. It’s not just that he would be the kind of cop who doesn’t follow the rules. It’s more so that he’s mentally unstable and would be dangerous in a police uniform.
Since this is a 2009 film, I’m not sure if it handles bipolar disorder tactfully, but Ronnie takes medication for his mood swings. But, it’s his tendency toward violence that really makes him dangerous, and the film plays this up when a flasher starts harassing the female employees. Ronnie doesn’t just want to apprehend him. He wants to kill him! Which, I don’t know about you, is a bit far, even far a flasher.
But, the whole movie is dark like this. Anna Farris plays the woman of Ronnie’s affection, and she uses him for his medication, which she thinks he uses recreationally. There’s a questionable (even back then) scene involving Farris’s character taking too much of Ronnie’s medication, and the result of them hooking up, but it thoroughly adds to the kind of character that Ronnie is, as he’s definitely not on the level.
These dark undertones really blur the line of what this film actually intends to be, which makes it really fascinating.
That Said, I Find It Utterly Hilarious
Okay, so yes, Observe and Report is really dark…but it’s also hilarious.
I think a lot of this is because it was directed by Jody Hill, who I know best from his work on Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals. Hill’s characters often seem to have these delusions of grandeur, and he plays that up to the nth degree, even though the characters having them are pretty low on the totem pole.
This creates a sort of disparity between the events that are occurring and how the characters perceive them, with Ronnie Barnhardt genuinely thinking he’s doing a good job when he goes “undercover”
It’s moments like these that have me dying laughing. Plus, you never feel bad for Rogen’s character. In any other film, his issues would likely be played up for dramatic effect, but here, you’re just wondering how much farther he can push this desire to be a police officer. I mentioned earlier how Paul Blart was often compared to Observe and Report when it first came out, but the very PG Blart is more silly than funny.
That said, I’ll never forget Ray Liotta blowing a gasket at Rogen’s character for being incompetent in Observe and Report. It’s all just so darkly funny that it makes me laugh every time. But, Liotta, Rogen, and Farris aren’t the only hilarious actors in this movie.
Danny McBride And Michael Pena Are At The Top Of Their Game
I love Danny McBride, and Eastbound & Down is probably the funniest live-action show I’ve ever seen.
But, believe me when I say this, I think Danny McBride’s character in Observe and Report as a drug dealer is the funniest character that he’s ever done (“This my motherf***in’ seed right here!”).
He’s only in the movie for a few minutes, but just everything about him makes me howl. Like the fact that he has his son tattooed on his chest, but not as a baby, mind you, but rather, as he is at that very moment in time. Or, when he asks one of his “employees” how many people he’s killed, and McBride’s character gloats that he’s killed two. Like, who keeps score like that?
That scene is hilarious, but I think my favorite moments are with Michael Pena (I even put this role on my list of Michael Pena’s best performances). Pena plays a fellow mall cop, and he gets Ronnie to do a number of drugs with him as they waste the day together. He’s a total scumbag in the movie, but also uproariously funny, playing off of Seth Rogen perfectly.
I honestly laugh every time I watch this movie, and Danny McBride and Pena are probably my two favorite characters, which really says a lot.
Seth Rogen Has Also Never Shown So Much Range In A Comedy
Comedy is Rogen’s bread and butter, even though he’s also done dramatic roles, like The Fabelmans, and Steve Jobs. He’s also done a lot of voice work, such as the Kung Fu Panda movies.
He usually stays pretty consistent in whatever movie he’s in. Like, you never know exactly what form of Seth Rogen you’re going to get in a movie like Neighbors or The Night Before, but once you’re introduced to his character, you’re pretty much locked into that version of Rogen throughout the entire film.
Not so with Observe and Report, as Rogen’s performance seems to be on the same emotional roller coaster as Ronnie’s mood swings. In the film, he’s constantly trying to prove himself, and this is always comedic in nature. However, the lengths he goes to can be soft humor, like the scenes he’s talking to Anna Farris’s character and thinking that he’s getting somewhere when the audience can clearly see that he’s not, to much broader comedy, like when Ronnie is beating people left and right with a billy club in ridiculous fashion.
I think this is what makes this movie feel fresh to me, since the range of comedy is all over the place. Some people might say that Rogen is more interesting as a team player than as a leading man, like in 50/50 or Superbad.
However, I much prefer him as a leading man since his range is so huge, especially as a comedian. And no other film in his career, for me anyway, has as wild a range as Observe and Report. Rogen is just all over the place in this film, and I can’t get enough of it.
Lastly, It Is Unlike Any Other Movie In His Lengthy Career
I’ve been a fan of Rogen’s all the way back to the early 2000s, and like I said in the intro, he’s had a really fascinating career.
That said, while he’s done everything from Donnie Darko to The Lion King, there’s nothing else like Observe and Report in his catalogue. Because unlike with most films, where Rogen plays a likeable schlub, in Observe and Report, he’s not likeable.
In fact, nobody’s really likeable in this movie, which makes it all the more humorous. And that’s very much unlike a Seth Rogen movie, as you usually have characters who are jerks, but also loveable jerks. But no, you don’t get that here, and that’s why it really stands out for me.
That said, you couldn’t have anybody besides Rogen in this role, as nobody else could play such a deluded, troubled man. It’s like if Taxi Driver were a comedy (Though, I don’t really know what to make of Taxi Driver as of late).
For these reasons and many others, it’s my favorite Seth Rogen flick. What’s yours?
