Quite crude, quite funny. Good at what it sets out to do %u2013 make us giggle, but that serious part of me wanted the picture to take its serious side one or two steps further.
Comment
04/08/09
Observe and Report (2009)
50
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:181
Fresh:91
Rotten:90
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Though it has a mean streak, and does not cater to all tastes, Observe and Report has gut-busting laughs and a fully committed Seth Rogen in irresistible form.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $23,993,605
Synopsis: At the Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (SETH ROGEN) patrols his jurisdiction with an iron fist. The master of his domain, he combats skateboarders, shoplifters and the... [More]
Reviews for Observe and Report
161 - 180 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
A dark and bizarre tone that makes you unsure whether you can laugh, although the dysfunctional characters do eventually win you over.
04/08/09
If you would have told me that Kevin James and Seth Rogen would basically make the same movie and both would have come out the same, I wouldn't have believed you.
04/08/09
Comparisons to the similarly set and massively popular Paul Blart: Mall Cop will inevitably pop up, but where the Kevin James comedy played things broad and safe, Hill's latest is anything but. Unlikable characters, gratuitous male nudity, a dry and somet
04/08/09
It's Paul Blart with a nasty streak, a perverse kind of farce that most people will be more likely to recoil from than to laugh at.
04/08/09
Ronnie the Mall Cop is as an iconic expression of irate proletarian populism and brainless role-playing as Joe the Plumber or Rush the Limbaugh -- identify or ignore at your peril.
04/08/09
The most telling line of dialogue comes from another cop: 'I thought this would be kind of funny, but it’s kind of sad.' True enough, and sad can be made to work -- sometimes.
04/08/09
Uneven at best... But say what you will about Hill's sicko, squirmy humor, at least it's distinctive.
04/07/09
This mall cop makes Paul Blart look good, and that's not saying much.
04/07/09
If you feel uncomfortable with the film's mixture of comedy and violence, that's all to the good: director Jody Hill pushes the envelope in this often riotous genre-buster.
04/07/09
It's like Taxi Driver meets The Big Lebowski, a sick and morally bankrupt combination which absolutely should not work, yet does.
04/07/09
A series of hit-and-miss non sequiturs in which his characters mostly humiliate and injure themselves and others.
04/07/09
Ronnie, in the vernacular of movie icons, is Travis Bickle meets Paul Blart: which made me miss Borat all the more.
04/07/09
Observe and Report is the rare 'action-comedy' (almost always a muddled hybrid) that earns its cathartic climax. The blood is real because the psychosis is real. But somehow -- the magic of comedy -- it’s also uproarious.
04/06/09
Jody Hill takes Ben Stiller's comedy-of-awkwardness to painfully uncomfortable, extreme realms, offering up unrepentantly disagreeable characters who confront their deep insecurities through psychotic displays of machismo.
04/06/09
"Observe and Report" is a laugh-'till-it-hurts comedy that sticks with you for all of the troubling questions it raises about our society.
04/03/09
The gifted Jody Hill claims he was inspired by Scorsese's Taxi Driver (and you can add King of Comedy) but it remains to be seen to what extent his edgy, darkly humorous film, which tries to change the definition of comedy, will be embraced by viewers
04/03/09
If it were funnier or remotely well made, you could take the beat down in stride, but writer/director Jody Hill has located the dark and mislaid the comedy, turning star Seth Rogen into a psychotic Barney Fife.
04/03/09
A dark, daring and very funny R-rated comedy that wears its penchant for bad taste like a badge of honor.
04/03/09
Hill and Rogen made precisely the strange little comedy that they wanted to. Trust me when I say that this is NOT your typical studio farce, and that's a wonderful freakin' thing.
03/29/09
Latest News for Observe and Report
September 21, 2009:
RT on DVD: Observe and Report, Classic Star Trek, and more.
Coming out on home video this week are a few new releases from earlier this year (such as Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Observe and Report), as well as a couple of collections... More...
April 12, 2009:
Seth Rogen more shocking than funny as crude mall cop. 
More...
April 09, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Hannah Montana Hits A Flat Note
This week at the movies, we've got a pop songbird (Hannah Montana the Movie, starring Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus), a mall cop (Observe and Report, starring Seth Rogen and Anna... More...
April 09, 2009:
Observe And Report: Better Than Blart, And Dirtier Than Harry. And the wicked humor never lets up, as the tone deliciously darkens just when it seems there's nowhere left to go.
More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
Dressing Wonderland
Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.
Wes Anderson on Fox
The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Win Glee DVDs
We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.
Win tickets to Cold Souls
Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions
Win Star Wars prizes
Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser
Win the entire 007 collection
Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.
Win Fight Club Special Editions and more
We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection
IGN RSS Feeds