Observe and Report
Just saw this film, which I rented as something light and funny to balance out “London to Brighton”. I was recommended this flick by a clerk, and I enjoyed Seth Rogan's work so far (the only movie with him that I saw and absolutely hated was “Zack and Miri Make Porno”), so - I ignored the low average on IMDB and went for it. Luckily!
To sum up the film in one phrase: it's a pretty neat parody of police action films, with a lot of homage to "Taxi Driver", in particular (and yeah, I know "Taxi Driver" is not a police action film).
Okay, this line is used in every other film review, but: some reviewers who trashed this film really didn't get it. What they didn't get is the genre of the film - this film is, again, a parody. It works by taking clichés of the genre and exaggerating them into a farce. And it does that rather well. Okay, it's not nearly as good as "Hot Fuzz", I admit - but it's pretty nice. And without understanding the film is a parody (or understanding of parodies, in general), I could understand how someone would be completely perplexed by this blend of craziness and stupidity… but this is what farce is all about!
We all know the numerous clichés of the police action genre: the hero is a "lone wolf" cop, who has trouble connecting to people because he is too direct and honest… whose attitude gets him into constant problems with his supervisors… who, below the asshole façade, has a heart of gold and a strong sense of justice… who wants nothing more than to truly fight crime, to make changes, to protect his territory… who consistently goes beyond what he is allowed to do in order to fight the bad guys… who eventually gets fired because of it, but doesn't give up and continues his personal crusade… and who, eventually, catches the bad guys, uproots evil, restores justice, triumphs over everyone who ever doubted him, yada yada yada. There's also, of course, the betrayal by a trusted partner; taking the law into one's own hands and wreaking havoc on the criminals; sentimental scenes of doubting oneself, but being reassured by a loving mother; getting a real emotional connection with a woman; etc. etc. Good old stuff - gets used and reused time and time and time again...
And this film just toys wonderfully with all these clichés. I'll just give the main idea: our hero is the head of security in a mall. And the vile criminal, who has been upsetting the peace in his territory, is a flasher. I think this is wonderful already :-)
The film has ups and downs (I particularly hated the opening scene), but, in my opinion, it just gets better and better - more and more crazy and twisted. Near the end I was just laughing uncontrollably (when Seth does the "Taxi Driver" monologue while going "deeply undercover" in the shopping mall… or him raining carnage on the law offenders - that consists of beating up kids on skateboards in the mall parking lot…) A nice blend of dark, stupid and hilarious. Definitely recommended if you enjoyed "Hot Fuzz"!
Overall rating: 7/10