Comedy and Violence:More thoughts on "Observe and Report"

It has now been roughly 24 hours since I got back from seeing the new Seth Rogen comedy "Observe and Report" and the more I think about it, the more I'm intrigued by it. "Observe and Report" is the kind of movie that dares to be different and walk on the wild side, something very few mainstream movies try to do. It doesn't play safe and for a comedy that's rare. I found myself being uncomfortable many times in the movie, wondering if I should be laughing at certain points, and in the end I disagreed with many things that it glorified. To be perfectly honest I'm not sure that I enjoyed the whole movie experience and I was hesitant about recommending it. However I admit that once I left the film, it stuck with me, I couldn't just shake the feeling I had from it.

I suppose it might be easier to go from the beginning and tell you more about the film. "Observe and Report" is the story of Ronnie Bernhardt(Rogen) a mall security guard with serious bi-polar issues. The film opens at the mall where a flasher is seen terrorizing people in the parking lot. The pervert is not captured, and Ronnie along with his team of misfits decide to make this sicko their top priority. Soon the flasher strikes again and this time he flashes Brandi (Anna Faris) the sexy, busty, make-up girl who works at the mall, and who Ronnie has a crush on. A police inspector (Ray Liotta) is brought in to take control and nab the perpetrator which Ronnie resents. We find out later that Ronnie secretly has always wanted to become a cop himself but never really believed in himself enough to do it.

Through the film, Ronnie's bi-polar disorder worsens as he gains more confidence in his abilities and takes himself off his medication. He becomes more and more delusional believing himself to be the ultimate bad-ass and taking extreme measures to keep the peace. This leads to some of the most violent scenes that have probably ever been put in a comedy.

Along with some violence, the film is also full of some very sad and I would say depressing moments, mostly done by Ronnie's alcoholic mother (Celia Weston) who is anything but a functional parent to her loving son. She is often shown passing out, after trying to act tender towards Ronnie. We also learn that Ronnie's father has left him and his mother makes no secret that she thinks he is to blame for that.

We no doubt get the sense as to what triggers Ronnie's violent outbursts throughout the film and part of this film's twisted sense of humour is seeing what's going to happen when he finally blows his top.

CAUTION SPOILER'S AHEAD

The part of the film that I find struggling with comes at the climax, where the flasher returns to the mall, and Ronnie who at this point has lost his job after a huge police standout, decides the only way to redeem himself is to apprehend this pervert. A chase ensues throughout the mall, keeping nothing to the imagination as the flasher's frontal features are seen flapping proudly throughout. The scene doesn't end nicely for the flasher as Ronnie gets the drop on him and shoots him point blank in the shoulder with blood splattering everywhere. Ronnie is soon reinstated to his post as mall security guard, and is regarded as a local hero, he even gets the girl. The final shot is of Ronnie with his gun at target practice, where we get the sense that this guy is still dangerous.

My problem with this resolution is how much Ronnie is regarded as the good guy. Yes he caught the flasher, but still he's a delusional man who caused harm throughout the film to people who weren't necessarily all that guilty, yet we are suppose to reward him because this is a comedy?

The film shares many comparisons to the Scorsese masterpiece "Taxi Driver" which was also about a delusional loner who turned to violence as the ultimate answer. In that film I felt it never took sides with the loner, we are always aware that he was a dangerous man who after his violent rampage was still capable of snapping again. The character of Ronnie as he is depicted by Seth Rogen tries to gain our sympathies by at times acting lovable and sad, but he is just as dangerous. The moralist in me can't let this go, and the film leaves on a purely nihilistic point of view that I think might send out the wrong message, however when it often comes to moral issues in film I always try to remain objective and let other people decide for themselves. Kim Morgan over at Sunset Gun made one point about the film that I happen to agree with and that it's getting people talking no matter what you think of it. It's true, and for a comedy that's rare.

This may seem like I'm going back on my recommendation of "Observe and Report", quite the contrary. I urge people to go see it and make up their own minds about it. You may despise it, or you may admire it, for me I guess it's a little bit of both, one thing that's for certain is I can't ignore it, and that's just what makes this movie worth seeing.