‘Observe And Report’ or “Menace to society” (Blu-ray Review)
Warner Bros. | 2009 | 86 mins | Rated R
If you only see one mall cop movie this year, make sure it’s this one.
After viewing ‘Observe And Report’ the first time I wasn’t necessarily sure that I enjoyed the film. I laughed and had a fun time with it, but I wasn’t sure about the value it had. Upon a second viewing and experiencing the film on blu-ray I can now honestly say that Jodie Hill’s ‘Observe And Report’ is one of the most challenging comedies to be released this year, but it’s also one of the best comedies too.
Let me put it out there that ‘Observe And Report’ is not a film for everyone. Even if you’re a Seth Rogen fan this film will challenge you. This might just be Seth Rogen’s most un-Rogen-like film on his resume. Two mall cop films came out in 2009, and many people might woefully assume that ‘Observe And Report’ is the more fun adult version of ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’. Not so. ‘Observe And Report’ is a dark comedy. Do not underestimate when I say it’s dark. ‘Observe And Report’s main character Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) is a well-meaning protagonist that cares about his mother and protecting the innocent shoppers at the Forest Ridge Mall where he serves as head of mall security.
Regardless of Ronnie’s good-natured intentions, he’s an unbalanced mess who is prone to bi-polar spells and, in most cases, lacks common sense. The writer and director of ‘Observe And Report’ Jodie Hill has created a character who challenges audiences ability to relate to; a protagonist who is mentally troubled and a threat to others; but one who is a surprisingly likeable character.
When a flasher starts to terrorize the shoppers of the Forest Ridge Mall, Ronnie realizes that this perverted individual might give him his long-awaited chance to shine and prove himself. He might just even step up to the big leagues and become an actual officer of the law (if he can pass the psych profile that is).
After Brandi (Anna Faris) the make-up counter girl (and Ronnie’s obsession) becomes a victim of the mall flasher, things get all too real for our delusional hero. Ronnie turns into a man-on-mission with one goal in life direction his actions; bring down the mall flasher at any cost.
Filling out the cast is Ray Liotta as police detective Harrison (and typical hardened Ray Liotta type character). Harrison is an actual lawman brought onto the case of the mall flasher, who also has an extreme detest of Ronnie. Anna Faris expertly plays Brandi the comically vapid object or Ronnie’s affect who is as shallow as they come but views herself as something beyond just a make-up counter girl. In his first comedic role, Michael Peña takes on the role of Dennis, Ronnie’s second-in-command of Mall security. Patton Oswald and Aziz Ansari also have extended cameos in the film.
Video
‘Observe And Report’ is presented in 2.40:1 widescreen, and the blu-ray disc uses the VC-1 codec on a single-layered BD25 disc. For a low-budget comedy filmed on 35mm, the film’s transfer looks crisp and clean without any noticeable grain. This is not a bright and sunny film. I didn’t notice any compression issues with the transfer. The blu-ray transfer genuinely gives the look and feel of the color palette that would be on display in a mall. The colors are accurate and the contrast levels are appropriate. Given the source, the film transfer looks great- even better than when it was in theaters.
Audio
The audio choices on the disc include English, French, Spanish and Portuguese presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and for the hearing impaired there are with French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles and English captions.
The bonus features
For a comedy that runs just about 90 minutes, the disc comes with a handful of hilarious and entertaining special features that are listed below (most of which are presented in SD).
• Additional Scenes – (27 minutes, presented in SD) Some of these scenes are very funny, but after watching them you can see why they were cut since they didn’t really add much to the final product beyond extending some unneeded back stories for certain characters. Certainly worth a watch if you enjoyed the film.
• Gag Reel (12 minutes, presented in SD) – This is your usual gag real that really gives you the feeling they were having a fun time on set.
• Filmmaker Picture-In-Picture commentary track Director Jody Hill and actors Seth Rogen and Anna Faris – This full length commentary track gives you a look into the behind-the-scenes action better than the behind the scenes footage. It’s nice to see Warner Bros. taking the time to get a full-length commentary track with the director and stars instead of forcing in a dull commentary track with the film’s b-list talent.
• Seth Rogen and Anna Faris: Unscripted (7 minutes, presented in SD) – this outtake reel continues the gag real but highlighs scenes between Anna Faris and Seth Rogen.
• Basically Training (7 minutes, presented in SD) This is a behind-the-scenes featurette about the stunts in the film.
• Forest Ridge Mall Security Recruitment Video (3 minutes, presented in SD) This faux recruitment video features that cast and is a nice added bonus on the disc that deserves a watch with it only running 3 minutes.
• BD-Live – Warner Bros. includes the usual web-based features but as of the release of the blu-ray no BD-Live features are online.
• Digital Copy – This is the usual SD copy of the film that comes packed with most blu-rays now and can be uploaded to your mobile device or computer. A nice added bonus but it’s one I’ve never used. It’s nice that it’s there though.
The final verdict
Is ‘Observe And Report’ on blu-ray worth your hard-earned money? If you’re a fan of the film after having watched it in theaters then I would say this is a must buy blu-ray. This is a film that will have a growing cult following in the years so if you already love and appreciate it now then invest in the blu-ray disc. It features a slew of worth-watching special features and is presented with a crisp HD transfer that makes the film looks better than when it was in theaters earlier this year. For those of you on the fence about this film I do urge you to rent this film. Do take note that ‘Observe And Report’ takes cultural taboos like date rape and heroin use and tries to put these things to use in a way that will horrify some and make others laugh-out-loud. ‘Observe And Report’ is a challenging dark comedy but one that I urge anyone on the fence to step up and try.
‘Observe And Report’ will be released on September 22, 2009 on Blu-ray, DVD, On-Demand and available via digital download.
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Dan Hacker
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Eric
