Just finished watching the forthcoming Warner Bros. DVD of Observe and Report (i.e. the OTHER security guard comedy of 2009) starring Seth Rogen , Anna Faris and Ray Liotta. On the one hand, I must admit I wasn't really sure the world really needed a darker version of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. On the other, the admittedly over-exposed Rogen has not, as of yet, outstayed his welcome with me (despite his dispiriting work in Funny People). And since the utterly adorable Faris has proven to be one of the deftest comic actresses currently working (bidding fair, I think, to become the Lucy of her generation) I figured it might be worth a look.

You know -- how bad could it be?

The plot:

Bargain hunters at Forest Ridge Mall are getting more than they bargained for: a chubby flasher in a ratty bathrobe is running amok at inconvenient moments. Security Guard Ronnie Bernhard (Rogen), who has a loving but dysfunctional relationship with his alcoholic mother (Celia Weston), is on the case, assisted by fellow mall cops including the Yuen twins (Matt and John Yuan). But Ronnie sees it as something more -- a ticket to The Bigs, i.e., a real police job and a romance with a hot cosmetics-counter princess Brandi (Faris). Only one thing stands between Ronnie and his destiny: The tall, handsome detective (Liotta) who actually knows what he's doing (and thinks Ronnie's a putz). So -- will our hero catch the flasher and get his cop gig? Will he wind up with the faithless Brandi or realize that Nell (Collette Wolfe), the friendly food court worker that secretly loves him, is the woman of his dreams? These and other issues will be resolved before the movie comes to the end of its 87th minute. Hooray for Hollywood.

Okay, cutting to the chase, the answer to our earlier question is "Actually kind of depressingly awful." This isn't just a darker version of Paul Blart -- it's practically a darker version of Taxi Driver or King of Comedy, which is to say Rogen's character verges on psychotic loner territory. Obviously, this is supposed to be some kind of comment on something in the larger society, but writer/director Jody Hill, who seems to be yet another of those young auteurs who've gone from film school to filmmaking without ever having passed through life, can't seem to make up his mind whether the characters are amusing losers we're supposed to relate to or deliberately appalling satirical grotesques. In any case, by the time the big date rape scene arrived (have I mentioned that Faris is particularly ill-used?) I had pretty given up caring which; the whole experience was just too unpleasant on every level.

On the other hand, perhaps I was just feeling cranky at the time. Here's a clip which gives you a pretty accurate taste of the tone of the thing; feel free to make up your own mind.

In any case, you can pre -order it here