Not only is Observe and Report laugh out loud funny and completely over the top it's also one of the smartest such comedies in recent memory deftly unpacking and satirizing the way American society abandons individuals to the pursuit of what they think will make them happy, often literally handing them the keys to a disaster in the making. I'm a sucker for a dark satire that doesn't take cheap shots at its subjects. Though there is a lot of crude content here there is also, an even more uncomfortable look taken at the mall culture that I grew up around and I have to say watching this film was like going home again and getting to look back at the way I was taught to look at myself.
Seth Rogan plays Ronnie Barnhardt, an overzealous mall cop with a lot of dreams. He dreams of getting the gorgeous girl behind the perfume counter, of catching the pervert who constantly exposes himself at the mall, and becoming a real cop someday. But his reality is living with his alcoholic mom, wearing a taser instead of a gun, and being a panda shaped very troubled individual whose dreams may be key to everyone elses nightmares.
The marketing for this movie wrongly portrayed it as a cruder version of Paul Blart mall Cop. Observe and Report is on a whole different plane. Look for this movie to become a cult staple, and a very, very much, written about film of a decade in economic and spiritual freefall. No extras on the conventional DVD release which is sad.