I can honestly say I don’t know what to think of Observe & Report, after seeing the movie’s first teaser trailer. It’s Red Band, which means they get to say the F word a few times. That doesn’t however, explain why it isn’t funny. I don’t even think it’s trying to be funny. I thought this was a comedy. It seems I was wrong.
The good news is that Seth Rogen is finally playing something different than the usual stoner/slacker/geek he’s typecast as. In Observe & Report he plays the kind of guy who wears a gold chain around his neck and fucks women while they’re unconscious. Actually it’s almost like Rogen is doing some sort of Danny McBride impression in a truly dark and twisted drama. It's more like Punch Drunk Love than Pineapple Express.
The best things about Paul Blart, the year’s first mall cop related movie, had nothing to do with the movie’s ridiculous, Die Hard like plot. Blart came very close to not sucking in the all too few moments when it just Blart living his daily, pathetic life. Observe & Report looks like it may skew more towards that, which could be a good thing. Again though, this really ought to be, you know, funny.
Watch the first confusing, Red Band trailer for Observe & Report in high-res here, or watch it below:
