Observe and Report (R, 2009)

i don't get your review commonsensemedia you say this is a dark disturbing film but it's not dark it's lighthearted and silly the violence really isn't that bad come on if you scene an action film in the last hundred years the violence won't bother you. the language may actually beat pulp fiction for most f words ever said onscreen especially the one scene with the indain dude plus the sex is mostly two sex scenes and the sequence at the end where the flasher is shown for like 90 seconds in slow motion which is disgusting

I'll start of my review by saying... THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 17!!! I found the movie to be very funny, but since it's a dark comedy it is not for all taste. There is a lot of sexual content since the plot involves a cop trying to catch a flasher along with some graphic nudity (espically near the end of the film) and a date rape scene which some may find offensive. Theres a lot of strong profanity throught including many uses of the F word. There is some violence in the film but most of it isn't graphic besides the one shooting at the end. The chracters are deffintly not good role models either as they do drugs and drink on the job, steal, and beat up kids. It's deffintly not a kids movie but if you like dark comedy you should find it very funny.

it is funny and provocotive but it has its moments

With the success of the Foot Fist Way, about a mean-spirited karate instructor, writer/director Jody Hill makes his new film Observe and Report which shares one similar characteristic to Foot Fist Way, a dysfunctional and psychotic protagonist. Seth Rogen gives the performance of his career in his best film to date as Ronnie Barnhardt, a racist, bipolar, egotistic, violent, brave, and, surprisingly, kind-hearted overweight mall cop. In Observe and Report, a flasher has exposed himself to several women at a shopping mall and Ronnie views this as his opportunity to prove his 'greatness' by bringing the man responsible to justice. Taking advantage of the situation, Ronnie tricks a recent victim of the flasher, Brandi (Anna Farris), to have dinner with him. Following the dinner, is a sex scene which could be viewed as date rape due to the fact that Brandi is drunk, drugged-up from pills, and partially unconscious. Even a scene such as this that deals with a disturbing matter is turned into comedy when Ronnie momentarily stops his thrusting to check if Brandi is okay and Brandi responds by exclaiming, "Why are you stopping m***erf***er!" This scene is one of the prime examples of the magic of this film in that it always kept me in a confused state as to whether or not to laugh uproariously or feel shocked. Another unconventional moment occurs when an actual police officer, Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), drops off Ronnie in a rough neighborhood as a practical joke and to teach him a lesson in that being a mall cop is not the same as being an actual police officer. When Ronnie is confronted by a group of muscular crack-dealers, I was again perplexed as to whether or not to be appalled by how brutally Ronnie defeats them or laugh at how the situation turned against Harrison and fed more to Ronnie's ego. However, no matter how big Ronnie's ego is or how he always uses violence as the means to serving justice, I always felt sympathetic towards him. I think this sense of sympathy came from how well-intentioned Ronnie is, how alienated he feels, and his genuine ability to love. This feeling was illustrated in a scene where Detective Harrison plays a cruel joke on Ronnie by putting his hopes up in becoming an actual police officer and then telling him that he did not make the cut. Before Harrison gives Ronnie the bad new, another officer hides in the closet so he can have a laugh at how the pathetic mall cop has his hopes crushed. However when Harrison actually gives Ronnie the news, the police officer comes out of the closet, ashamed, stating, "I thought this was gonna be funny, but it's actually kind of sad." The film's balance of comedy and sadness carries and builds itself to its psychotic climax that would be completely implausible in another comedy, but it makes only perfect sense in Observe and Report because it is only reasonable to Ronnie's psychosis.

Well, I totally agree with the CommonSense review. I laughed quite a lot at this movie, but some of the funniest part also made me feel very uncomfortable. Hubby and I both have a very dark sense of humor, and so we technically enjoyed the movie, but I was definitely not left with a feeling that anything was resolved to any moral or ethical satisfaction. The sex scene referenced in the review was indeed uncomfortable in some ways because you know that the girl is passed out, and regardless of her slurred "consent," is too doped up to truly realize the possible consequences of the sex. However, the part that disturbed me most was not the questionable consent or ethics on sex while drunk or with a drunk, but the part that truly bothered me was the disgusting aspects. Since it is part of the punchline in some ways I won't give anything more away, but I'll just say that the most discomfort for me originated in the outright gross areas, and I am someone with a fairly strong stomach for "regular" nasty stuff. This movie pushed more limits in showing a nadir of human behavior IMO, mainly because you know that while exaggerated for thematic and comedic effect, there are people who stoop this low out there. DEFINITELY NOT FOR CHILDREN--to use my own parenting style/method and standards, I would NOT allow my daughter to see this at all until she is 16+ -- if not 18. lol

I'm not here to give a review because if it shows up on my page its a 5 star movie and so therefore you know what i think about it.