Observe and Report

Seth Rogen’s rising star falls flat on its arse in his messy and distinctly ugly new comedy. Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen) is a boorish mall security guard with delusions of grandeur who vows to do whatever it takes to bring down a serial streaker scaring the shoppers. In the film’s world of losers and grotesques there are some genuine laughs to be had, mostly from Celia Weston’s alcoholic mother, and Ray Liotta acting everyone else off the screen as a detective who sees Barnhardt for what he really is, but the violence of the main character is hard to ignore. Allegations of date-rape aside (a line narrowly saves an otherwise appalling sex scene), Barnhardt is an unrepentant racist misogynist who swaggers around blissfully like the playground bully and the film ultimately celebrates someone who should be behind bars. Rogen tries his best to invoke sympathy but even he can’t save this.