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DVD Review: OBSERVE AND REPORT (BLU-RAY)

Studio: Warner Home Video
Year: 2009
Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Collette Wolfe, Ray Liotta, Jesse Plemons, Dan Bakkedahl, John Yuan, Matt Yuan, Celia Weston, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Randy Gambill, Alston Brown, Danny McBride, Antonia DeNardo
Director: Jody Hill
Release Date: September 22, 2009
Rating: R for pervasive language, graphic nudity, drug use, sexual content and violence.
Run Time: 01h:26m:18s
Genre(s): comedy

"Let me ask you something. How much did they get paid to storm Normandy? How much did King Arthur get paid to kill Merlin? How much did they get paid to invent television? Nothing. They did it because they knew it was right." - Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen)

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A pitch black comedy with the seemingly overexposed Seth Rogen.

Movie Grade: B-

DVD Grade: C+

Whether it's true or just my imagination, Seth Rogen is on one of those "potentially overexposed actors" lists. At least in my head, anyways.

He's one of those actors that seems like he's in nearly every movie made these days, and with Observe and Report he had the distinction of appearing in the second of two mall security guard films released almost on top of one another—the other being Kevin James' kinder, gentler Paul Blart, Mall Cop. So with this one Rogen's not just overexposed, he's even appearing in a tiny sub-genre niche that didn't really seem to begging to be expanded upon.

Thankfully writer/director Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way, Eastbound & Down) pushes Observe and Report hard into the black comedy realm, so if your tastes in humor tend to lean towards the awkwardly uncomfortable (think The Cable Guy uncomfortable), then this could merit a viewing.

Otherwise—if you're still hellbent on watching a comedy about a mall cop—then stick with the much safer Paul Blart. Unless you're looking for something darker.

Because here things are much more ugly, as Rogen's Ronnie Barnhardt is the chubby bipolar head of mall security at the Forest Ridge Mall, and he's prone to violent thoughts, absurd outbursts and a cocky swagger that he can barely live up to. When an elusive and foul-mouthed flasher hits the mall, Ronnie takes it as a personal mission to catch the bad guy, even as finds himself going up against the police, led by the terse Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta).

As support for Rogen's Ronnie, Hill gives us the requisite wacky security guard crew (including a pair of dim-bulb twins and the scene-stealing Michael Pena's trippy, lisping second-in-command) and a pair of diametrically-opposed potential love interests (Anna Faris and Collette Wolfe) who also work in the mall. Yet what really propels this into the weird realm is Celia Weston as Ronnie's alcoholic mother; she may not be in all that many scenes, but when she is things move from funny to depressing to uncomfortable, and back again, generally all at once.

And watch for a couple of well-played but brief cameos, one by the brilliant Patton Oswalt as a cruel and insensitive store manager who gets one of the great comeuppances in all of the mall cop comedy genre and the other by Danny McBride as gun-toting drug dealer.

That's all good, but what I found most surprising is that Rogen was somehow able to turn Ronnie into a sort of sympathetic character, even if he's cocksure, idiotic and not always all that likeable. He's a guy who exists in a narrow universe where he's the king, and when that all turns to a pile of steaming crap (and it does it ever) it's tough not to have a sense of abject pity for the guy. Even his misplaced wooing of the trampy makeup counter salesgirl Brandi (Faris) is steeped in all manner of unpleasantries, including a terrific tequila shots scene that once again proves Faris is a rock solid comedic actress.

Perhaps not the most politically correct and eloquent comedy ever made, I'll defend that there's a place in the world for darkly comic films like Observe and Report. While I doubt the sometimes bleak humor will appeal to everyone I'm not too proud to admit I laughed out loud a number of times, and at just 87 minutes Hill keeps it all held together tightly as Ronnie's world goes from bad to worse. I went in with minimal expectations, and left unexpectedly satisfied.

IMAGE/AUDIO
The VC-1 1080p encode from Warner Brothers on this 2.40:1 transfer is a pleasant surprise, given that my expectations for this were on the low side; this certainly isn't a title that screams to be seen on BD, but the treatment here is impressive. It's quite the sharp transfer, with a bright, well-rendered color palette and a consistent block of deep blacks. A few modest issues with shimmer and ringing in spots were evident, but overall a nice looking disc. And given that Amazon (at the time of this writing) has the BD release for less than the SD version, I'd say the decision is an easy one.

Audio is served up in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 in English, as well as dubs in French, Spanish and Portuguese. The presentation isn't terribly flashy from a dialogue standpoint, but the whole thing really gets a chance for some showcasing moments during the frequent songs dropped in here and there (such as The Band's version of When I Paint My Masterpiece during the opening credits).

EXTRAS
This two-disc set is packaged with a slipcover, with artwork identical for both. Disc one contains the film and supplements, while disc two is the always questionable digital copy. Extras include what is identified as a "meeting-of-the-mall-minds" picture-in-picture commentary, with Seth Rogen, Anna Faris and writer/director Jody Hill (sporting a pair of supposedly funny glasses). The PIP appears in the lower right corner of the screen, and while the concept is wholly unnecessary for a film like this, the presentation executed well. The fact that other than Rogen's sarcastic comments early on about having to appear onscreen are funny, there really isn't much of a need to see the three of them comment on the film (though I will never complain about having to eyeball Anna Faris).

The remaining Blu-Ray exclusive special features are presented in 480p SD, and consist of a block of 18 additional/extended scenes (27m:11s) and a gag reel (12m:17s). Also available are a pair of behind-the-scenes segments: Seth Rogen and Anna Faris: Unscripted (07m:38s) and Basically Training (06m:48s). The mercifully short Forest Ridge Mall: Security Recruitment Video (03m:01s) tries hard to be funny—mixing mock-reality, interviews and clips—but never gels. The BD-Live section, which was incredibly slow-loading, only held a smattering of trailers.

Posted by: Rich Rosell - October 10, 2009, 6:48 pm - DVD Review
Keywords: comedy