Observe and Report (2009, dir. Jody Hill)

Whoa.  Spoilers.  Because that's how I roll.

WOW.  i just... okay.  I haven't blogged seriously in over a year.  I've been meaning to start it up again recently and this film really made me want to write an entry.  I found myself during the 90 minute run time imagining those old days at my desk job where I lived for this type of movie.  A movie I could go home and mercilessly rip apart for my own enjoyment.  Mostly I haven't been writing posts because I've actually been writing screenplays.  Which I will have you know is very difficult and so the acerbic critic in me temporarily died as my continual frustrations with structure/plot/whathaveyou nutured the commiserative and empathetic side of me.

But this movie... wow.

Let's get the date rape out of the way.  I have this thing about date rape.  Date rape jokes are like Jewish jokes.  You can safely make them if you've actually been date raped.  So my only real reason to piss on Jody Hill's parade is that it sucks that a guy got to make this joke in the multiplex arena before a chick writer or director did.  That's my issue with it.  And why?  Well, it could be that male writer/directors are seen as the only people capable of orchestrating gross out comedy which is a genre where fucking a passed out slut perhaps belongs.  OR... it could be that lady writers are too busy being friends with each other, getting skin treatments and owning dogs to concoct a scene as sensationally graphic as this one.

Whatever.  Moving the fuck on.  Why did Jody Hill (a pretty great director) WRITE this movie?  I think it was most likely to make money.  It could also have been to hang out with some cool people he knows.  Let's go out on a limb here and postulate that he wanted to say something about the human experience.  Because, to be honest, there are parts of this movie that would support that hypothesis.  Like juxtaposing mall culture with extremist gun enthusiasm.  I mean, what says America like a schlubby anti-hero shooting a naked guy a close range in the middle of the cosmetics aisle.  Oh yeah.  That's the climax of the movie.  Sorry.  Did it make me think about the state of our beloved union?  Yes.  Much like Borat.  It made me feel very glad that I don't and never have lived anywhere but the East or West Coast blue states.  It also made me sad for anyone who does.  One) because according to the recent movies I've seen there isn't much to do except shoot stuff, eat stuff and shop for shit.  And possibly dream of the day you can move to Hollywood and make a movie satirizing your experience.  And B) because everyone else in the country hates your fucking guts.

So apparently this is Taxi Driver for the LARPing generation.  Which is, in my humble opinion, a genius idea.  Problem is... Observe and Report bears little to no resemblance to Taxi Driver.  For starters, Robert DeNiro wasn't immediately established as a loser or a deranged lunatic.  You were initially rooting for him because you felt the indignancies he suffered at the hands of others were unwarranted.  As are, of course, all of your indignancies.  He gained your trust as a protagonist.  In Observe and Report, it's established right off the bat that Ronnie (Seth Rogen) is OBVIOUSLY a loser and deranged lunatic.  The Rogen persona and the imitative personas his fame has spawned are firmly ROOTED in the concept of loser as hero.  So... when he suffers the insults of others, he deserves it.  This is what we laugh at: his triumph in spite of the fact he deserves our derision.  Anyone who's seen a Will Ferrell movie knows that.

It's worth noting that the objects of DeNiro's obsessive romantic worship are both angels sacrificed to cruel systems: politics and prostitution.  While the conveniently-sweet Nell (well-acted by Collette Wolfe) falls into this category, she's an after thought to Ronnie's inciting attraction to Brandi (Anna Faris).  Brandi is so unbelievably disgusting that the sad part is: She actually does need saving.  But I suppose Mr. Hill found it too tempting to make her a punchline to be shat all over.  Which is exactly what everyone including Ronnie, her would-be savior, does to her. So let me get this straight, dude. If Anna Faris fucks whoever she wants, does copious amounts of drugs and doesnt really want to date a sociopathic fat-ass is a complete waste of space and not only deserves to be fucked like a piece of meat but she will actually ENJOY that. But Michael Pena can do it and it's funny cuz he's a "gangsta" or something.

Plus a guy who has absolutely no redeeming qualities, a fetish for guns, delusions of grandeur and a severe case of self-entitlement... he's the hero? I can hear the NCSA grads now... "that's not what he's saying you fucking lesbian feminist! He's saying that... like Seth Rogen is... like crazy... and our culture". No! FUCK YOU! You chronic masturbators! When everyone claps in slow motion for the hero to a Pixies cover that means you're rewarding him. That means you're saying everything he's done for the last 90 minutes is fantasy yes. But it's cool. You're not making an ironic statement about what this society rewards. THAT'S what Taxi Driver did. Because it was a good movie.

I could forgive the films blatantly brainless misogyny and neo-Scorsese posturing if it were funny.  But it really isn't.  I laughed at maybe three moments.  The rest of it?  Good actors and would-be comedic bits are drowned out by obese people, absurd nudity, randomness, minorities acting bizarre, second rate jokes about middle America, and a smug soundtrack that would make even Wes Anderson cringe with embarrassment. That naked guy who gets shot in the chest? He survives. Obviously. MPAA doesn't like executions but rape... A-okay. I can see why. When he was shot, the audience burst into giddy laughter and applause. As if E.T. just flew across the moon. Once again in mainstream comedy... anti-humanism trumps creativity every time.

Synonyms: Bad Santa, The Cable Guy
Antonyms: Taxi Driver, anything by Edgar Wright

BOTTOM LINE: Only for fans of Eastbound and Down. I know you're out there! People looking for another Apatow extravaganza... looks like this month's best bet is Adventureland.