Observe and Report is a 2009 American black comedy film written and directed by Jody Hill and starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris and Ray Liotta. It follows a mentally unstable vigilante mall cop who attempts to join the police academy and pursues a flasher tormenting female visitors to the mall where he works. It was released on April 10, 2009 and grossed $27 million.

Plot

An anonymous flasher exposes himself to shoppers in the Forest Ridge Mall parking lot. The head of mall security, Ronnie Barnhardt, makes it his mission to apprehend the offender. However, while Ronnie is ostensibly well-intentioned and valiant in his own mind, in reality he is emotionally unstable with vigilante tendencies, apparently experiencing bipolar disorder and displaying violent ideation, among other problems.

The criminal activity at the mall continues as the flasher exposes himself to make-up counter worker Brandi and a masked robber causes property damage at a shoe store. In both instances, Detective Harrison, a police detective, arrives to investigate. The two dislike each other, as Ronnie believes Harrison is taking over his proper role as investigator and Harrison believes that Ronnie is disrupting the investigation.

Ronnie decides to take steps to become a police officer. As part of his preparations, Ronnie decides to ride along with Detective Harrison. Harrison tricks him into walking into the most dangerous part of town and drives off. Ronnie then confronts and subsequently assaults several drug dealers, victoriously returning to the police station with a dealer s son and thanking the detective for the opportunity to prove himself.

Emboldened, Ronnie arranges a date with Brandi. On their date, she sees him taking a prescription clonazepam and assumes that Ronnie takes them recreationally. She asks him to share and he gives her the entire bottle, believing he does not need his prescription anymore. Ronnie takes her home and has sex with her while she is semi-conscious.

Ronnie passes the background check and physical examination for the police officer job, but fails the psychological examination. Nell, a friendly food court worker, tearfully shares that her coworker, Trina, and her boss, Roger, tease her for having her leg in a cast. Ronnie then beats up Roger and warns him and Trina not to harass Nell again. Depressed, he is persuaded by fellow security officer Dennis to spend the day doing a wide variety of drugs and assaulting skateboarding teenagers. At the end of the day, Dennis reveals that he is the one who has been stealing from the mall. Ronnie insists this is wrong and, after a brief argument, Dennis knocks him unconscious and flees.

Ronnie decides to go undercover in order to catch the flasher, but when he catches Brandi having sex with Harrison in the parking lot, he confronts her in front of onlookers at the mall the next day, blowing his cover and destroying a display case. The police are summoned and Ronnie fights them off, defeating the regular officers, until he is overpowered by Harrison and arrested.

A few days later, Ronnie s mother gives him a postcard from Dennis in Mexico, who respects Ronnie for caring so much. Ronnie returns to the mall, despondent that he no longer works security. He discovers that Nell s cast has been removed. She kisses him just before the flasher arrives and exposes himself to the food court.

After a brief chase, Ronnie incapacitates the flasher by shooting him in the shoulder. As he picks the bleeding flasher up, Brandi thanks him, but he rejects and publicly humiliates her for sleeping with Harrison. Ronnie brings the flasher to the police station, gloating that he has won by apprehending him. Ronnie is subsequently interviewed by the local news, having regained his job and begun dating Nell.

Cast

• Seth Rogen as Ronnie Barnhardt
• Ray Liotta as Detective Harrison Jones
• Collette Wolfe as Nell Jones
• Anna Faris as Brandi Gaffney
• Michael Peña as Dennis Chavante
• Jesse Plemons as Charles Gaffney
• Aziz Ansari as Saddamn
• Dan Bakkedahl as Mark
• John Yuan as John Yuen
• Matthew Yuan as Matt Yuen
• Celia Weston as Mrs. Barnhardt
• Randy Gambill as Pervert
• Patton Oswalt as Roger
• Ben Best as Detective Okarski
• Danny McBride as Caucasian Crackhead
• Lauren Miller as Trina
• Alston Brown as Bruce
• Cody Midthunder as D-Rock

Production

The film was shot on location in the largely abandoned Winrock Shopping Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Filming began around May 2008.

At the request of the studio, during the test screening stage the filmmakers created a version of the film that was more toned down, but that was scrapped as the test screening scores for the new version were lower than the original.

Writing

Observe and Report was written and directed by Jody Hill. The megalomaniac, manic-depressive security guard Ronnie has been compared to Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese s Taxi Driver; Hill has mentioned it and also Scorsese s The King of Comedy as significant influences.

The film has drawn some attention for having a plot revolving around a mall cop like the 2009 family comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Seth Rogen, in an interview with GQ, noted his awareness of another mall cop movie being made:

We knew the whole time, actually. And we re friends with those guys, so we would literally send each other pictures of the wardrobe, just to make sure we weren t stepping on each other s toes. They re totally different movies.

However, in 2019, Rogen expressed anger at his discovery that Paul Blart: Mall Cop had gotten the script and ripped us off, even though they re very different movies…One way or another I m not thrilled with Paul Blart: Mall Cop in relation to how Observe and Report was received.

In comparing the two, Observe and Report was dubbed by some reviewers as the dark mall cop movie .

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 212 reviews, with an average rating of 5.49/10. The site s critics consensus reads: 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. On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of C on an A+ to F scale.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a rating of three out of four stars, saying, Hill is fearless at pushing hot buttons: date rape, shooting up and worse, and Rogen is nutso hilarious, nailing every note of mirth and malice. Conversely, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the movie one star out of five and disparaged Rogen s performance, writing for Seth Rogen fans like me, this charmless, heavy-handed and cynical comedy is an uncomfortable experience. Paul Byrnes wrote in, Much of the movie is just plain vicious. At best, it s sad and grotesque, rather than hilarious, while Manohla Dargis of The New York Times stated if you thought Abu Ghraib was a laugh riot you might love Observe and Report. She continued, It s far better and certainly easier … to sit back and relax and enjoy the show. That, after all, is precisely what Hollywood banks on each time it manufactures a new entertainment for a public that—as the stupid, violent characters who hold up a mirror to that public indicate—it views with contempt.

The film drew criticism for its attempt at a comedic portrayal of date rape from a number of notable publications, including Vulture, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The New York Times. On their date, Ronnie purchases Brandi copious amounts of alcohol at the restaurant and gives her a bottle of his prescription medication, clonazepam, a combination which leaves Brandi so incapacitated that she can neither stand on her own nor open her eyes. Despite the fact that Brandi is clearly inebriated and unfit to give consent, Ronnie takes advantage of her vulnerable state, kissing her after she vomits and engaging in intercourse with her as she lies motionless on the bed, stopping once he notices she is unconscious. Brandi then awakens and asks him why he stopped.

During an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Rogen stated he was disappointed by the film s overall reception, but proud that the only two people who liked it were Stern and David Letterman.

Box office

The film grossed $11 million in its opening weekend (an average of $4,085 at 2,727 theaters), finishing in fourth place, behind Hannah Montana: The Movie, Fast & Furious, and Monsters vs. Aliens (also featuring Rogen). It ultimately grossed $27 million at the box office. To date, it is the third lowest-grossing film of Rogen s starring career, before Take this Waltz and The Interview.

Release

The film was released on April 10, 2009 in the United States.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 22, 2009.

Soundtrack

Observe and Report: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	April 7, 2009
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	New Line Records

Observe and Report: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on April 7, 2009 by New Line Records.

The Queen songs It s Late and The Hero are featured in the film but not included on the soundtrack.

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2009-04-10
RuntimeMins	86
RuntimeStr	1h 26min
Plot	Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper’s paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can’t bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective is recruited to close the case.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 4 nominations
Directors	Jody Hill
Writers	Jody Hill
Stars	Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta
Produced by	Donald De Line,Marty P. Ewing,William Fay,Andrew Haas,Jon Jashni,Thomas Tull,Devesh Verma
Music by	Joseph Stephens
Cinematography by	Tim Orr
Film Editing by	Zene Baker,Devesh Verma
Casting By	Jo Edna Boldin,Sheila Jaffe
Production Design by	Chris L. Spellman
Art Direction by	Masako Masuda
Set Decoration by	Helen Britten
Costume Design by	Gary Jones
Makeup Department	Lorraine N. Alex,Enid Arias,Garnett Burk,Berlinda Cantu-Lewis,Tarra D. Day,Matthew W. Mungle,Angelique Ortiz,Sheila Trujillo,Frieda Valenzuela,Corey Welk
Production Management	Marty P. Ewing,Ravi D. Mehta,Jon Romano,Todd Ulman
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Gary Hymes,Ivan Kraljevic,Milos Milicevic,Denise Anderson Poore,Darin Rivetti,Marcia Woske
Art Department	Brett Andrews,James Barth,Thomas J. Barton,Leandro Di Salvo,William Eliscu,Robert Fechtman,Amy Giedraitis,Virginia Hopkins,Arlen Johnson,Kristen Kogler,Ben Lowney,Amy Marsh,Geni McAndrews,Leigh Anne Montaño,Johanna Nelson,Sara M. Pennington,Zack Shisslak,Thomas Traugott,Christopher Windisch,Colin Zaug,Jess Coffer,Jason Delap,Christian Di Salvo,Robert Jackson,Ashley Michelle Marsh,John McKey,Nichole Miller,Randy Moffitt,Daniel Noah,Christina Pizzala,Lisanne Scafine,Ian Scroggins,Juan Souter,Rachel Srigley
Sound Department	Bob Beher,Sandy Berman,Curt Cash,Christof Gebert,Eric Gotthelf,Charles Hamilton,Steve Mann,Jason Oliver,Steve Pederson,Mark Purcell,Terry Rodman,Katherine Rose,Sean Rowe,Edwardo Santiago,Ric Schnupp,Zac Sneesby,Karen Spangenberg,Joseph Stephens,Miles J.D. Vedder,Jake Wilson,Ross Wissbaum,Ryland Witten-Smith,David Wolowic,Ryan Young
Special Effects by	Compton Brodhead,Scott Forbes,Dick Hogle,Daniel Holt
Visual Effects by	John Carcieri,Erin L. Nelson,Wilson Tang,Chris B. Schnitzer
Stunts	Laura Albert,Randall Archer,Jeff Brockton,Mark Brooks,Mark Chadwick,Eddie Fiola,Christian J. Fletcher,Al Goto,Sean Graham,Mark Hicks,Collin Hymes,Gary Hymes,Michael R. Long,Tom McComas,Angelique Midthunder,Lin Oeding,Steve Rizzo,Jimmy Romano,Brady Romberg,Tomas Sanchez,Mike Seal,Russell Solberg,Ryan Staats,McKay Stewart,Sonny Surowiec,Shelby Swatek,Wyatt Tipton,Jay Torrez,Jermaine Washington,Jeff Brockton
Camera and Electrical Department	Mike Benson,Matt Bizer,James M. Black,Jonathon Bradley,Michael A. Chavez,James F. Cornick,James B. Crawford,Ronald De Torres,Brent Egan,Justin Geoffroy,Lamarr Gray,Steven A. Guerrero,Greg Hewett,Tom Hutchinson,Ignacio ,Jimmy E. Jensen,Jason Kilgore,Kurt Kornemann,Robert L. Mant,David Jaxx Nagro,Charlie Newberry,Guy Olds,Matthew A. Petrosky,Walter Bud Scott,Nick Shuster,Peter Sorel,Mark Steinig,George Stephenson,Stefan Tarzan,Amber Taylor,Paige Thomas,Ralph Watson,Nick Barros,Theodore Y. Bott,Matthew Coleman,Jacob Cottrell,Morgan Davis,Shane Duckworth,Allen Eaves,Matt Ervin,Steven A. Guerrero,Ian Hanna,Trevor Howe,Jason Linebaugh,Otis Mannick,David Melhorn,Dave Midthunder,Lea E. Miller,Mark O Flahavan,Jeremy Antonio Oliver,Jessica Ramos,Alejandro Snodgrass,Eric Steinig,Jorn Vylonis,Cody West,Dwayne Willis
Casting Department	Jo Edna Boldin,Tina Kerr,Marie A.K. McMaster,Ruth Salen,Karin Aragon,Michael Scott Baker,Sandy Holt
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Jerry Carnevale,Michelle Duval,Bruce Ericksen,Jessica Peel,Claire Sandrin,Mitchell Travers
Editorial Department	Kathleen Latlip,Bruce Lomet,April McMorris,Michael Underwood,Everette Webber,Michael A. Webber,Chris DeLaGuardia,Sara Hyoun,Daniel Paress,Benjamin Sutor,Darin Wooldridge
Location Management	Brett Heicher,David Israel,Ian Larsson,Lee David Lee,Cyndy McCrossen,Hilton Clay Peres
Music Department	Christian Almiron,Ryan Blaine,Bob Engel,Scott Nurkin,Joseph Stephens,Dave Tough,Richard Ziegler
Script and Continuity Department	Mamie Mitchell,Brenda K. Wachel
Transportation Department	Ted Basso,Greg Bronner,Charley Bob Burnham,Cody Frost,Penny Hicks,Dennis Milliken,Harold L. Woods
Additional Crew	Lynn Ambrosino,Alexander Andrews,Matthew Bass,Spencer Beighley,Natalie Bloomer,Daniel Booko,Rachel Bris,John Carcieri,Joann Connolly,Dax A. Cuesta,Robert Cupp,Amy Czigan,Angelina Del Rio,Lisa Dilenschneider,Francisco A. Fernandez,Mathew Ferrante,Carey Field,Matt Gamboa,Audrey Garrison,Colin Garza,Marissa M. Gonzales,Kevin Graham-Caso,Dia Hahn,Sean Halvorson,Karen A. Harris,Hillary Higgins,Rebecca Hilliard,Alex Holcomb,Jason Huberman,Scott Hussion,Jim Ivy,David Jacobson,Ray Johnson,Elissa Kannon,Brady Kephart,Brad LaChance,Erin Lander,Kym Langlie,Brian G. Lax,Ashley Marie Lowry,Ashley Michelle Marsh,Leigh Anne Montaño,Walter E. Myal,Michael Neal,Tiffany Patterson,Ryan J. Pezdirc,Mayda Renizzi-Holt,Ken Ryan,Ben Salazar,Brendan Shepherd,Ryan Spencer,Juan Torres Jr.,Lisa Vanallen,Sarah J. Williams,Helena Wyss,Emily Lipson Zambello,Tim Granlund
Genres	Comedy, Crime, Drama
Companies	De Line Pictures, Legendary Entertainment
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	5.7
ImDbRatingVotes	63471
MetacriticRating	54
Keywords	mall,security guard,police detective,pubic hair,male pubic hair