Observe and Report

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The superb character actor Celia Weston (In the Bedroom) is truly breathtaking as Ronnie's boozer mom.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

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.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

You can't root for Ronnie. You can't identify with him. You can't hope he gets the girl – any girl. But you may want to look on with stunned fascination as he ticks away, ready to explode.

Film Threat Scott Mendelson

In a genuinely brave performance, Seth Rogen sheds his frat-boy comic styling and delivers an unflinching portrayal.

Premiere Rob Calvert

The random and unpredictable nature makes it an extremely interesting film to watch.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It falls short of brilliant but it's a lot more daring than what passes for "dark comedy" these days, and it reminds us that "feel bad" comedies may not always be as funny as "feel good" ones but, when they work, they can ultimately be more satisfying.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

This is one of those comedies where the humor lies in the audacity of tone and character rather than any particular sight gag or one-liner. Same with "The Foot Fist Way," which is absolutely worth your rental dollar.

TV Guide Cammila Albertson

Some movies strive to give you that warm, fuzzy feeling, and some strive to make you bawl your eyes out, but Observe and Report strives to make you feel ambivalent, confused, and a little bit dirty, and whether or not you find that enjoyable, it's not something you likely feel very often.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Funnier than the silliest comedy because it's surprisingly real.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Admirable for venturing into very dark places rarely glimpsed in big-studio comedies.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Funny as hell.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

As funny as it is sick (and it's plenty of both).

Time Richard Corliss

A feel-good ending is mandatory, even in a comedy like this, which promises to be transgressive because it's the first major-studio job for a director with an underground reputation for being crazy-bold.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

While it stops before sliding too far into the darkness,Observe and Report hits a lot of bull's-eyes by aiming for the gut, not easy belly laugh.

Variety Joe Leydon

Ronnie is more complex, and much scarier, than the kind of self-deluding boob auds usually encounter in comedies of this sort. With the invaluable aid of Rogen, who's never been better, Hill sustains an impressive degree of tension between seemingly contradictory elements.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Something of a cross between the formalist whimsy of Wes Anderson and the God's-lonely-man psychosis of "Taxi Driver," the film breaks all the rules, but the tonal schizophrenia that results isn't an accident.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The movie, starring Rogen as a mall cop with anger management issues, is essentially a goony romp flecked with disturbing eruptions of violence.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Where "Mall Cop" is broad, safe and sticks to a formula, Observe and Report is unabashedly crude, cynical, off-kilter and funnier.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

This new movie is crazier, scarier, funnier, and more bewildering. It's the strangest movie I expect to see from a Hollywood studio for the rest of the year.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Broad but thin and more bleak than uproarious--a humorously downsized homage to foundational '70s classics like "Dirty Harry" and, especially, "Taxi Driver."

Empire Dan Jolin

An odd one. Rogen's latest clown is an angry, confused man who you never feel entirely comfortable laughing at. There are laughs -- you'll just feel guilty afterwards...

Washington Post John Anderson

Cruel, unfunny and yet somehow perversely fascinating.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

One of those comedies that is more peculiar than actually funny.

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman

Bobs and weaves between gross-out comedy and violent psychosexual drama, ultimately sliding into parody.

Slate Dana Stevens

What's meant (I think) to be a "f*** you" to action-movie conventions reads instead as a "f*** you" to the audience. Observe and Report tickets should come with a free breath mint, because however hard you've been laughing, that ending leaves a seriously bad taste in your mouth.

The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore

Barring a Terry Zwigoff return to "Bad Santa" territory, it's hard to imagine a filmmaker embracing this dubious hero to the extent writer-director Jody Hill does.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

There's about 10 good minutes out of 85.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Observe and Report conveys an essential truth about Rogen: Like every other actor on the planet, he needs good material to do good work.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Midway through, a character remarks as he leaves the scene of a takedown of Ronnie, "I thought this was going to be funny, but it's just kind of sad." The same thing is true about the movie as a whole.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

Yes, the "Taxi Driver" parallels are intentional: Hill spells them out in the press notes, all but branding Observe and Report a Scorsesefied remake that reeks of stale Cinnabon.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

I've observed this Seth Rogen comedy, and I can report that it's not very good.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

This film isn't the most awful comedy of the year (that would be Bride Wars or New in Town), but it may have the grossest antihero.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's possible Hill has a style, of sorts. But he doesn't work from the heart, or from the gut, as a good comedy director generally needs to. He operates from one guiding question: "How disturbing can we make this sh**?"

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

If you thought Abu Ghraib was a laugh riot then you might love Observe and Report, a potentially brilliant conceptual comedy that fizzles because its writer and director, Jody Hill, doesn't have the guts to go with his spleen.

Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

It heaps piles of bad, crazy stuff at our feet then walks away. There is no moral to this story, and there's not much comedy either.