MOVIE REVIEW: "OBESERVE AND REPORT"

BY: LEE RICE

After the recent "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," I was rather skeptical about seeing another Seth Rogan comedy. After all, it seems that he’s rapidly becoming overused as Hollywood’s new go-to man for comedy.

Fortunately, although "Observe and Report" does go over the top at a few points, it manages to stay within the realm of good taste and delivers a funny and largely entertaining good time.

The first thing I noticed while watching it was that the commercials don’t seem to accurately represent what the movie is really about. Yes, Rogan’s conflicts with Detective Harrison are a major part of the movie, and yes, he is trying to woo a brain dead perfume girl, but it seems that the main bulk of the film deals with him trying to keep his emotions in check while suffering from bipolar disorder. This sounds like serious subject material, and it IS represented in a more realistic fashion than you would expect, but it simply sets up the comedic situations and never makes you feel as if you are watching a drama rather than a comedy.

If there is one complaint to be had about "Observe and Report," it’s the fact that the movie seems to go on longer than in should by any rights.

The performances are good, there are a few unexpected twists and turns, and a few other ones that are a bit more predictable, but on the whole the thing does a great job of telling its story in a non-traditional fashion.

One warning though, there is a bit of gratuitous full-frontal male nudity toward the end, so people sensitive to that sort of thing may want to steer clear. If you’ve seen "Watchmen" though, and didn’t mind it, then you probably won’t care in this case.

Verdict is a B

You can e-mail Lee at Leslierice60@webster.edu.