Observe and Report (2009)

Anyone going into this film expecting yet another Seth Rogen raunchy comedy is in for a rude awakening. Likewise, anyone going in for the more sick and twisted side of the film will also be left wanting. You have to wonder exactly what kind of film writer-director Jody Hill set out to make. It starts out innocent enough for the genre, as Seth Rogen's foulmouthed, bipolar, gun-obsessed rent-a-cop decides to make to make it his mission to track down a serial flasher terrorizing a shopping mall. But instead of leaving things at surface-level shenanigans and predictable laughs, it instead dives further and further down the rabbit hole of Rogen's self-delusion. Except the comedy gives way to an uneasy and unsure drama and by the end the whole thing is just creepy. It evolves from 40-Year-Old Virgin into Taxi Driver. There's no denying that it's a brave decision but the end result is extraordinarily uneven, featuring left-field joke setups that don't fit into the drama, and dramatic choices that don't work with the comedy. The real shame of it is that Rogen does show some decent acting chops here. In the hands of a more certain director with a more balanced script, this film could have explored some genuinely interesting places, but what's on hand is unfortunately just as choppy as it's lead's mental state.

5 out of 10.