Is ‘Observe and Report’ too dark?

Observe and Report is “Paul Blart: Mall Cop Strikes Back—a dark comedy with ‘issues,’” said Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel. Starring Seth Rogen as a frustrated and delusional mall security guard, director Jody Hill’s new film “delivers a cynical, angry, and funny take on a life of loud, violent desperation.” (watch the trailer for Observe and Report)

This movie is nothing more than “a haven for the benighted, envious, and spiritually small,” said Armond White in the New York Press. And the “violence in the unimaginatively titled Observe and Report is loud and blunt—making it the ugliest, most hate-filled comedy since Borat.”

“Say what you will about Hill’s sicko squirmy humor,” said Sean Burns in the Philadelphia Weekly, “at least it’s distinctive.” But Observe and Report is “uneven at best,” especially when the movie “veers erratically from broad slapstick into darker, deeper waters that the filmmaker doesn’t seem sure how to navigate.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up