DVD Review: Observe and Report

Observe and Report
Written and Directed by: Jody Hill
Starring: Seth Rogen, Ray Liotta, Michael Peña, Anna Faris, Dan Bakkedahl, Jesse Plemons, John Yuan, Matt Yuan, Celia Weston, Collette Wolfe, Randy Gambill, Alston Brown, Cody Midthunder, and Aziz Ansari

I really don't know how to begin this review. I should say something clever that will hook you in. Something that will make you click the Rawr and read the whole thing but I can't think of anything kind enough about this movie that might accomplish that.

Oh! I know.

Aziz Ansari is the best thing about this movie.

Click the Rawr! for the full review.



The second mall movie this year, following the phenomenal, if slightly mystifying, success of Paul Blart, was Observe and Report. I haven't seen its predecessor but if it's half as bad as Observe and Report than I fear for the movie going public.

Observe and Report is a dark, uncomfortable, unfunny mess of a film. Not even Seth Rogen, who I normally really enjoy, can salvage this movie.

The story is about an uber mall cop who is determined to catch a pervert who is flashing customers at his mall. He also wants to become a cop. More happens, including what has to be a date rape, but none of it is very funny at all. In fact, I barely did more than chuckle.

What was funny? Well like I said before, Aziz Ansari was funny, I can't say why though since he is on screen for about thirty seconds. I also found Michael Pena's lispy voice to be funny.

That's all.

I felt gross after watching it. There is nothing redeeming about this movie or its characters whatsoever. It is a spectacular failure.

Clearly, Warner Brothers doesn't have that much faith in it either. The DVD release has not one single extra, neither does the Blu-ray if I am not mistaken. You get the full screen and the wide screen version of the film and that is it. Not that any features would make this movie any better.

It's not that the acting is bad, because everyone turns in decent performances. It's just that the characters are so unlikeable. There isn't a single person to latch on to. They all seem like such horrible, weird people.

I'm not sure what else I can even say. The movie is bad. There are no special features. Warner couldn't be bothered to put a trailer on the DVD. I really cant even think of a reason why anyone should rent this movie, let alone buy it.

Only someone who is a Seth Rogen completest or someone with zero sense of comedy should buy this.

In case you care, Observe and Report is in stores now.

EDIT: In this review I stated that the blu-ray does not have any features. That is incorrect. There are several special features on the Blu-ray disc. The movie still sucks though.

RAWR(for more)

Lions for Lambs

Lions for Lambs

Directed by: Robert Redford

Written By: Matthew Michael Carnahan

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Andrew Garfield , Derek Luke, and Michael Pena
MGM and United Artists

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are delicate subjects. Both igniting a maelstrom of debate and polarizing an entire country. Who's to blame for past mistakes? Be it the media, the president, ourselves. Lions for Lambs examines facets of the debate in ways we haven't really seen in mainstream American cinema. It is not a liberal antiwar movie. It is not a conservative pro war message. It's a human movie. A movie about people, about convictions. A movie about honor and courage and taking a moment to step up and do something.

It does not present an agenda. It gives options. It presents two sides of a fiercely battled coin. Yes it points fingers, but it points them equally at both sides.

Robert Redford has crafted a taut political piece of art told through three simultaneous stories.

Robert Redford and Andrew Garfield play teacher and student. Redford a professor desperately trying to show Garfield that he is gifted and can make a difference in his world if he only decides to do so. Garfield plays a cynical student who has all but given up on doing anything meaningful in his life. He is content to ride the coat tails and live the good life while the world moves on behind him. These scenes are expertly performed. At times I'd forget I was watching a movie at all. The words and the rhythm was so natural, so real. Redford delivers a subtle, enthralling performance and Garfield stands right there with him. Toe to toe with a legend and it seems like he didn't break a sweat to do it.

The second story is stars Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. Streep, a reporter who had praised Cruise's character in a previous article. Cruise plays a Senator with plans for victory in Afghanistan who is using Streep to sell his plans to the public. Cruise took this low key performance and ran with it. He played it perfectly. Almost too perfect, at one point I thought I was looking at John Edwards on the screen.

It is Meryl Streep who again shines. She plays a stoic reporter chosen to be the messenger of the Senator's new master plan. She can take such a simple character and turn it into a complex mix of emotions. Whether pointing out mistakes in the war or arguing with her boss about how the media rolled over and sold the war in the first place.

I would really love to see Streep and Cruise together again. They play great against each other.

The final story is that of two soldiers who are part of Cruise's characters new plan played by Derek Luke and Michael Pena. Best friends who went to war as a way of doing something. A way to be apart of the biggest thing happening in the world. They felt they had to do this so that when they return home they can truly make a difference. They're both former students of Redford's character and they flash back to scenes in the class room showing how they took a school project and turned it into something meaningful in their lives. The courage and commitment of these characters is inspiring. They put their lives on the line with no question. They believe it is right. They believe it is something they need to do for themselves and their country in order to make a difference later on.

I won't give details about what else happens in the movie. It is a journey you will need to take should you decide to see it (and you should).

Overall though, the movie leaves the ball in your court. It leaves it up to you to create the message you want to take from this movie. Whether you feel the need to take action, to stand up and make your voice heard.

It's a truly brilliant accomplishment and one of the most important movies of the year. A true political Tour De Force that should not be missed. A movie that succeeds where all other political movies this year have failed. It makes you feel something and it makes you think. A movie like this, you can't ask for much more.

Lions for Lambs is in theatres November 9, 2007.

RAWR(for more)