“Observe and Report” Delivers Controversial Humor

Since kicking off his career in “Freaks and Geeks,” Seth Rogen has earned a reputation as one of Hollywood’s top funny men. Similarly, “The House Bunny’s” Anna Faris has become synonymous with funny dumb blonde. In theory, putting the two together should be a recipe for hilarity. But when the two teamed up for Jody Hill’s new film “Observe and Report,” the result was more painful than funny.

“Observe and Report,” the second film of young director/writer Jody Hill, is definitely no “Superbad,” or anything close for that matter. Don’t go in expecting a side-splitting college-guy-humor-fest, because you will only leave disappointed, and maybe slightly depressed.

Hill’s film features Rogen in the role of Ronnie the mall cop, bent on catching a flasher that is terrorizing the mall and proving himself a hero. And, to top it all off, he plans on winning the love of his dream girl, Brandi, the hottest make-up counter clerk in the mall.

While the premise is funny and the actors talented, the movie still falls short. Rogen and Faris, joined by Ray Liotta, are definitely talented, but Hill’s humor is controversial to say the least. There are occasional laugh out loud moments, but for the most part, the humor is so dark and twisted that audience members can do nothing but sit awkwardly and squirm. Looking around the theater showed a majority of confused faces, apparently thinking “are they serious?”

Ronnie has dreams of being a real cop, and is willing to do anything to get there. The only problem is, Ronnie is bipolar, and lets his occasional outbursts of rage get out of control after he gives his entire prescription bottle to Brandi, so that she can use it as a party drug.

But Ronnie’s mental illness and violent behavior aren’t the only basis of inappropriate jokes. Ronnie’s mom is an alcoholic who talks about his dad leaving because of him, as well as how she enjoys sleeping with Ronnie’s friends.

The sexy Brandi is not only a huge bitch, but a slutty party girl who sleeps with more than just Ronnie. And the scene of her “having sex” with Ronnie is more of a bad rape joke than a sex scene. At the infamous dinner scene from the movie previews (Brandi and tequila shots: “It burns so good”) Brandi gets drunk, and then some. A sober Ronnie takes her home and has sex with her vomit covered and seemingly passed out body. They only indication of Brandi’s consent is her slurred “why are you stopping, motherfucker?” when Ronnie pauses his incessant thrusting to see if she is still awake. And who said date rape wasn’t funny?

The only reason to withstand the hour and a half writhing in your seat is for the very occasional funny moments, which may or may not include (depending on your sense of humor) the great chase scene of Ronnie and the flasher- full frontal male nudity included. This flasher makes “Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s” male nude scene seem G-rated.

In the end, even Ronnie’s heroism is questionable and his mom is still drinking, and hey, at least he’s back on his meds and happy . . . for the moment.