It's hard to figure out just why two films featuring mall security cops as their lead characters (this film and Paul Blart: Mall Cop) were released in the past year. Of the two, Observe and Report would have been the obvious choice as more likely to tickle one's funny bone due to its popular leading man Seth Rogen. Unfortunately, it's the Kevin James lead Paul Blart that wins the crown as "the least terrible" of the two.Audiences have grown accustomed to seeing Seth Rogen in the funny, nice guy role due to his work in previous movies like Knocked Up, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, etc. But his role as Ronnie Barnhardt in Observe and Report cast him in a different light. Ronnie was bigoted, overbearing and hard, if not impossible, to like. There was no backstory to explain his rash behavior (he takes meds but his condition was never discussed), no room for his character to grow, he was just a disturbed weirdo with a penchant for weapons and spouting curse words. At least Paul Blart had some semblance of a recognizable story/plot, Observe and Report lacked a cohesive story structure and the editing was amateurish to boot. To top it all off, there was nothing funny in the film (save for Ronnie tasing a guy and beating up on some skateboarders). The jokes that were there fell flat, and Rogen was never given the chance to show any smarts, wit or even the slightest bit of the charm which he uesd to make the characters he played in those other films so memorable.
One kept waiting for something funny or even interesting to happen, but the joke was on them beacuse Observe and Report simply stunk.
Grade: D
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