Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Observe and Report


Let's pretend like we haven't been reading about Seth Rogen's new flick Observe and Report for the past few months... Based on the trailer that's been making rounds on the internet and from various TV spots, we've come to a few conclusions:

1. It's a laugh riot.
2. It 's a laugh riot with Seth Rogen.
3. It's a laugh riot with Seth Rogen as a mall security cop.

Pretty straightforward, eh? Well, it's not quite as cookie cutter as you might think. For one, Observe and Report is not about Rogen chasing down your typical skateboarder mall rats, looking for love in all the wrong places [read: beauticians jocking the cosmetics counter], and catching the usual pervert flashing his junk at unsuspecting women in the mall parking lot. Well, it is, but that's not what makes it such an interesting watch. Instead of just making a more adult- themed Paul Blart family comedy, Jody Hill [writer/director, natch] has finally blindsided the public with a cinematic curve ball we're sure most moviegoers aren't ready for.

Jody Hill 101: In the year 2006, Mr. Hill broke into the comedy scene with the stunning debut that was Foot Fist Way. You may remember it's lead, one Danny "I'm trying to put tiger balm on this jungle's nuts" McBride? The movie was such a cult hit that Will Farrell started circulating the dvd around the Hollywood comedy elite, whom I can only assume has nothing better to do than pass around funny dvds to each other. With Farrell as his new backer, Mr. Hill started writing a little TV show called Eastbound and Down, also starring Danny "maybe your wife's gonna buttfuck someone tonight" McBride. With the help of Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green, the show received a considerable amount of praise and has recently been renewed for a second season on HBO. What can we learn from all of this? Two things: first, Will Farrell is either a fucking genius or has too much time on his hands; second, Jody Hill has begun a mini movie revolution that is just barely making itself known to the greater movie watching population.

As Riley Freeman would put it, "I don't want to dick ride or nuthin," but Jody Hill's cranked out some pretty epic material in the past few years. In a world where I can't go see a funny movie in the theater without it somehow being connected to Judd Apatow, I'm ready for a breath of fresh air.* This pretty much gets us back to Observe and Report and the shifting zeitgeist of movies that aren't written by a Segel, Rogen, Goldberg, or an Apatow. Or all of them at once. Oh wait, that was called Knocked Up. Nevermind.

We wouldn't call Seth Rogen's performance in Observe and Report spectacular, but we will congratulate the man on avoiding a rehash of his previous character type, that of a well-meaning, yet somehow unmotivated twenty something Jewish male who doesn't quit with the funnies. His portrayal of a mentally ungrounded manic depressive is captivating, entertaining, and quite disturbing. Since you won't find a review of this movie without some mention of how it's just like Taxi Driver, we'll join the band wagon too. By the end of the flick, you're gonna see some real shit go down. Hard drug use? Check. Questionable post-tequila shot coital relations? Check. Unnecessary yet completely appreciated gunplay/talk? Double check. This flick has it all, and it's not because Jody Hill is fishing for laughs. He's really trying to fuck with your brain and if you aren't even a little thrown off by the end of Rogen's ridiculous 1 hour, 40 minute downward spiral, then we'd like to shake your hand [note: this is not a direct invitation for you to shake our hands; we're just trying to make a point]. We were left wondering how Jody Hill convinced a major studio to green light this fucker, but hey, we're glad it got a wide release.

Perhaps it's time for the movie watching public to know that there is an alternative out there ready to satiate their comedic desires. Maybe they're ready to have their brains stimulated by original content without foregoing a thoroughly entertaining movie experience. It's possible that the continual Apatow bombardment will end and we'll get something fresher as a result. Or we could be entirely wrong and we just wasted the last few moments of your life. No matter, Observe and Report got a good response out of us. Check it out. You might be surprised. And with that,

1. Is lithium really a good party drug?
2. Can an alcoholic actually keep his/her shit together by switching from hard liquor to beer?
3. Is Aziz Ansari's dick really brown?


* To be clear, I do not consider Observe and Report an Apatow flick for a few reasons. Seth Rogen is the Apatow golden calf, yes, but Jody Hill has done a great job of keeping him reigned in, avoiding all of that improv business Kevin Smith couldn't quite quell in Zack and Miri Make A Porno. Despite McBride's attachment to the Apatow crew in a recent Vanity Fair article, his relations to Jody Hill are closer and his breakthrough was not a direct result of Freaks and Geeks getting cancelled.