mdc3000

I thought it was great - not the best thing ever but it was satisfying and typical Jody Hill (although I was the target audience since I love Eastbound and think Foot Fist Way was gold)... The cast was great, even if some of them were really underused - and Michael Pena steals the show. I liked seeing Seth really go for it, but I'm not sure if it's just Hill's writing style or what, but it really felt like this role was written for Danny McBride... Just his whole attitude and a lot of the lines were in line with what Danny usually does in Jody's work.... maybe to get the movie made they needed a name so they went to Seth...

Certainly not for everyone and I was the only person out of 15 in the theatre this afternoon who was laughing...but I enjoyed it's dark and mean spirit. Will probably check it out again soon but I don't see a lot of people really loving this one and am sure word of mouth will be pretty bad overall...but not from me!

maingon

Seen this today and I thought it was great. Very funny, didnt find it very mean spirted or disgusting at all. Nothing more then what was in Pineapple Express.

I thought it was very funny, theater at 2:30 showing was about 1/3 full and people laughed through out the movie. I thought it was funny throughout, and the ending was fantastic.
8/10

Intervention

Caught a screening on Tuesday:

Jody Hill’s directorial debut, The Foot-Fist Way, features Danny McBride as a struggling karate instructor trying to work out some serious issues in his life. Hill’s most recent feature, Observe and Report, takes that basic concept, replacing McBride with Rogen and karate with mall copping and manages to take it to a whole other level. That level includes rape, murder, vomit, serious drug addiction, and extended full frontal nudity (not the good kind). For the majority of film-goers this will not be funny and actually be rightfully offensive. The minority, equally surprised this film was ever made by a major studio, will experience a unique moment in cinema.

The film opens with a pervert flashing the mall customers. Ronnie Barnhardt, as the Forest Ridge mall cop, takes it upon himself to catch this pervert while battling Detective Harrison, played by Ray Liotta (Crossing Over, Goodfellas), and pursuing his love interest, Brandi, played by Anna Faris (The House Bunny, Just Friends). Liotta is slightly grating to watch, as he just plays it safe, like most of his recent roles. Faris is no different, bringing nothing new to the table, feeling like she hasn’t learned anything since The House Bunny. Unlike Liotta though, she plays this character well against Rogen.

Ronnie Barnhardt is a sad, disturbed individual. His actions are unwarranted and his character is unlikable, at least for quite some time. The general comparisons to Robert DeNiro’s Travis Bickle character in Taxi Driver are mostly correct. I didn’t buy the character, but watching him dive headfirst into the deepest pits of human existence was something of a spectacle to watch.

I was a bit worried at the beginning, as the first act of the film isn’t downright hilarious, and plays it pretty normal. Looking back, this was necessary for the outrageous acts to follow. There is a point in the film where everything before, no matter how odd it was, doesn’t compare to what is occurring at that moment. During this event, the viewer will either accept where the film is headed and enjoy the ride or find it preposterous and believe Ronnie has overstayed his welcome. After some brief hesitation I saw where Hill was going, and glad he never looked back. I won’t reveal anything more about what happens because the hilarity comes with the surprises.

Hill has also crafted a fine set of supporting characters. Switching from a dramatic acting background to take on this comedy, Michael Peņa (Crash, World Trade Center), succeeds as Ronnie’s number two in command. His character stays in the shadows for a good part of the film, but once he breaks out, it is impossible to look away. Aziz Ansari (I Love You, Man, Parks and Recreations) particularly stands out as owner of a smaller mall shop. His hilarious interactions with Ronnie are among the best of the film. Patton Oswalt also plays a shop owner, a much cruder and pathetic one. There is a scene where he yells at an innocent cashier for not cleaning the area around her. The reason being she has a cast around her leg because of a protein deficiency. If this tirade doesn’t sound funny to you I highly suggest to stay away from the film. This is just one small dose of the heap of derogatory insults and images that proceed. The best supporting character, without a doubt, is Danny McBride. Again, I don’t want to give much away but his character made me wish him and Rogen flipped roles for this film. Alas, it seems like Rogen’s star power is the only way this film got made.

Jody Hill definitely has a knack for music, as heard in HBO’s Eastbound & Down. The film opens with “When I Paint My Masterpiece” by The Band, as we see the everyday events in a regular mall. When the heavy scenes come Hill perfectly slides in some nice rock from Patto, The Action, and others. It’s been a couple days since I have seen the film and the soundtrack keeps running through my head, triggering memories of the scenes. His quick, sometimes jarring editing style works well within the scenes themselves, but not so much during transition from scene to scene. Then again, that uneasiness I felt during some of the cuts echoes the overall disjointed theme of the film.

I’m going to have a certain joy this weekend when the average viewer sees this film, expecting another Paul Blart or another Seth Rogen comedy and is delivered something wildly different. While most viewers will be rightfully turned away, I see this film catching on and becoming a wild cult success. Even if none of that happens, we have to be grateful a film like this was able to be made and the comedy genre is being pushed into a brand new direction. While you are sitting in the theater this weekend, wondering whether or not you should be laughing, I suggest throwing away any morals you are attached to, if only for that short 86 minutes. Sit back and enjoy the flawed, but gleefully ruthless train wreck that Hill has laid before us.

8.5 out of 10

Zen Peckinpah

Wow. Just wow. This might be the new Big Lebowski when all is said and done. It's essentially Lebowski, Taxi Driver, and Bad Santa rolled into one evil, vile, and morbidly hilarious juggernaut that essentially tells Paul Blart to go fuck himself and shits all over every expectation you'd have for it. I died laughing. I screamed out loud in shock at one point. It is every bit as un-PC as you'd expect, and people will either love this film, hate it, or be apathetic. There's no middleground: it's an acquired taste, but even at first if it's not to your liking, this is easily a film that will most definitely get better on repeat viewings. Just like films like Lebowski and Fight Club before it, it's bound to be a cult favorite or comedy classic in the coming years. All the primary players fire on all cylinders, with special mention to Rogen (Ronnie Barnhardt is no question his most iconic role to date) and Faris, who plays a girl who you could have gone to high school with and whose beauty is literally and figuratively only skin deep. Michael Pena does not get enough screen time to truly drink from this film's psychotic volcano, but he kills every scene he's in and I hope to hell he does more stuff like this. And Ray Liotta, he plays a stone-cold bastard in this.

I'd say it bests Watchmen for my favorite movie of the year so far, and I loved that. Jody Hill has emerged as a new voice in cinema, and hopefully, my words won't be premature.

RyoHazuki

Saw it last night and was really let down after having high hopes for it. This was the most unrealistic film I had seen in a long time. These characters exist in a world where there's no consequences for anything. It does have a good deal of funny parts though. Danny McBride's scene especially had me going. The film is supposed to come off as dark and sad but its so unbelievable it just doesn't resonate. I didn't feel bad for Seth Rogen or any of the other characters because they were living in a cartoon world. I also didn't like how every scene needed a song (sometimes multiple songs). It just seems like lazy film making. Foot Fist Way was miles ahead of this one.

Intervention

So a film has to be realistic and believable for you to enjoy it? This film was just like Foot-Fist Way but on a whole other level, not sure what you expected...

RyoHazuki

No it doesn't, obviously, since film has endless possibilities of storytelling. This particular film just stretched the suspension of disbelief further than any live action film in recent memory. The characters aren't even consistent to their own behavior. It just wasn't very well thought out and makes the movie worse.

Tarantino

The girlfriend and I thought this movie was fucking awful. Normally I enjoy Rogen movies, but we didn't really laugh at all. Observe And Report sucked...big fuckin' time.

CloverClover

I liked some of the ideas in it but overall thought it had no vision. I really felt like the director/writer of this movie is bipolar themselves and deeply sick, how they throw in all this violent and depravity and give no weight to them. That can be fun but here it left a bad taste in my mouth. Watching this I was making Ray Liotta's "WTF" expression the whole time. So I think it is worth seeing because there are some unique moments and ideas in it, but overall it is a failure

Ash Ketchum

I appreciate your perspective, RyoHazuki, because I was wondering whether this film would work for me. I have a great taste for black humor but I find it hard to suspend disbelief with films supposedly set in the real world if they get too contrived or unrealistic. I tend to lose interest if I don't believe what's happening and it sounds like I'll have that problem with this film. Thank you.

Daytripper

Well I loved it. And laughed out loud so many times. Realistic? Not a chance. But who cares. Neither was "Bad Santa". This is one I will buy and will watch many times. Because there are so many great lines and scenes.

maingon

I think its very much like bad Santa in its humor, i agree with you I loved it and laughed out many times, lots of great line

Jules Winfield

This movie was absolutely fantastic. I'm actually kind of surprised to see so many negative reactions in here. Did you guys prefer Paul Blart instead?

harpo787

I'm not EXACTLY sure of the rating I'd give, but I definitely enjoyed it. On a 5 star scale, I'd say 3.5 or 4 stars. There's no doubt the film is uneven, but not too soon after I walked out of the theater I realized that essentially the film is bipolar, just like its lead character. However, I DEFINITELY agree that this will not be everyone's cup of tea...

FantasticVSDoom

Some slow moments, but I really enjoyed it... The laugh out loud parts more than made up for the parts that dragged a bit. Jody Hill is slowly becoming my favorite comedy writer as I loved this, FFW, and Eastbound and Down.

Supermallet

If you've seen Jody Hill's other work (Foot Fist Way, Eastbound and Down) then you should know what to expect with this film. I will say that Observe and Report is actually less funny than either of those other projects, and it goes further into the mind of the protagonist than either of those two do. Still, it has some hilarious moments (the "fuck you" back and forth and of course the last few minutes). I think it works best when taken as an homage to Taxi Driver with humor thrown in.

I have to say though, I got sick really quickly of the music choices. It seemed like the music was completely schizophrenic. Couldn't lock down a mood. Really distracting. Other than that, I loved it. Also, speaking of music, did anyone notice that "Where Is My Mind?" was not credited to Frank Black or The Pixies? Was that a mistake in the credits?

Edit: Also, I normally can't stand Anna Farris, but this role was perfect for her.

Boba Fett

'Where Is My Mind?' is a cover, not the original.

CaptainMarvel

This was a big disappointment for me. The protagonist was as unsympathetic and unlikeable as any I can remember, the plot was non-existent, and the movie was just a mess in general.

In fact, there's not much of anybody to root for or like in this movie. Everybody is a cretin or a sad sack, with Rogen being both.

Matthew Chmiel

Wow. Seems like you missed the entire point of the movie.

CaptainMarvel

Wow. I don't give a damn what the point of the movie is. It wasn't entertaining to me, so I didn't enjoy it.

Edit: I went into this expecting a comedy, or at least a movie where I would have more than a few minor chuckles. That's what the trailer sells the movie as. It sure as hell doesn't sell it as an exploration into mental illness, which is what it gave us.

Supermallet

Yes, but it listed someone else for the writing credit on the song as well, not Frank Black.

Arpeggi

Word of advice: don't start a review with "Wow. Just wow." It makes everything that follows invalid.

Boba Fett

Was it Charles Thompson?

I'd also agree it was a far more memorable use of the song than 'Fight Club.'

godzilla rules

This is one of the worst movies of the year, right after Watchmen. Every character in this movie are totally unlikeable and fake. Not one moment in this movie was believeable. The characters were cardboard thin, the writing and direction were just plain awful, and the ending went on for far too long. This is a terrible movie that should not have been made. And contrary to popular belief I think that Danny McBride is one of the unfunniest people to grace the screen in a loooooooooong time. Anytime he appears on screen in ANY movie he brings that movie to a halt while he perfoms his schtick then after he has left the screen the movie comes back to life.

And don't get me started on The Foot Fist Way. The WORST movie of 2008!!!!!!!

Breakfast with Girls

Also, don't say:

People will either love this film, like it, not really care about it, not prefer it to other films, find it rather poor, or outright hate it. There is no middle ground.