The Seth Rogen bandwagon is still rolling well into 2009 as he continues his evident quest to play every guy who wants justice among his peers. Following  Paul Blart: Mall Cop in March, we’re served another mall-cop comedy, but while Rogen usually has the backing of either himself or Judd Apatow in some creative role, this time he’s all alone. It can’t be said he does this for the people over the money, as the reason for anyone agreeing to be a part of this film is incomprehensible.

Observe and Report sees Rogen play ‘Head of Mall Security’ (because you can’t possibly fuck up his title) Ronnie Barnhardt, who struts around the mall with his posse – sidekick Dennis (Michael Pena) and Asian twins John and Matt (John and Matt Yuan). As if that wasn’t clichéd enough, a pervert (yes, a guy in a trenchcoat revealing himself), along with a string of robberies, disrupts the peace and Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) steps in to sort it out and make an enemy of Ronnie. Throw in potential love interest Anna Faris and a ‘Fuck You’ swear-off and there’s your film.

Perhaps it’s that Rogen had no creative input in this – that falls to writer-director Jody Hill, whose crudeness is minimal and comedy weak. There are meant to be cheap laughs but they don’t register; sex and violence are just thrown in for the sake of it, while none of the characters are remotely likable. Rogen markets himself as being a lovable arsehole but that’s given no chance of coming across here –Ronnie even acknowledges that his alcoholic mother has nothing nice to say about him! The leading lady doesn’t have much help either, Hill having no competition over Botox, which sadly steals most of Faris’ limelight.

If Observe and Report is remembered for anything at all, it will be the punch-up between Ray Liotta and Seth Rogen. Even this is poorly hyped up (although inevitable), but the altercation is decent – they beat the absolute shit out of each other, probably releasing the frustration of being involved in such a pointless film. The performances aren’t necessarily bad, but Liotta has it over Rogen just a little because he’s at least used to playing the bad guy. There’s nothing holding this film together – the plot wanders as Ronnie ponders his way through the bore that is his life, while the leading man himself is not lovable, but just an arsehole. You feel confused as to who the bad guy really is when you see Seth Rogen kicking some whoop-ass on criminals, not rewarded as you should be for sitting through it, or intrigued because that’s relatively new territory for him.

Verdict:

Shame on you Seth Rogen, this is an absolute cop-out (pun intended).The report finds that this can not be called a comedy because it’s not funny. Avoid.

Observe and Report opens in Australia on Thursday May 14th.

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