I always knew the Judd Apatow crowd was of higher caliber than many others in their genre field. Even when they don't work under Apatow, there is real work, wit and earned laughs in what they do, and here is a film that is a perfect example of how elemental film techniques can make a movie funny. Music and slow motion work in favor of the main character's mindset, but the reactions of his surrounding characters are deadly opposite. He is delusional to the point that he is dangerous. At one point later, there is mention of his being a bipolar case, but not just to lend clarification to his behavior but more to ground him in a real-world everyman situation which makes his heroic, narcissistic delusions all the more unexpectedly genuine.

Seth Rogen's Ronnie Barnhardt exemplifies both the old-school hardass and the modern-day dumbass, and while he merely defends the domain of Forest Ridge Mall, he does so with an aggrandized self-image and the most brutal of temperaments. If it weren't for those bothersome psychological evaluations, he might even be a cop by now. Rather, he's an archetype of misled masculine vigor on a mission: to stop the flasher who has been threatening his territory.

One would imagine it'd be a light storyline, one convenient for the cheaper tendencies of SNL or MAD TV, yet Rogen and writer-director Jody Hill extract a subversively funny character study about a depraved man and his perverse perception of what it means to be a hero. In Ronnie's mind, to save the day means busting out the Taser with his sidekick, a speech-defective Michael Peña, by his side; to love a woman (Anna Faris, as funny and foul as ever) means essentially committing date rape. He is sexist and racist.

There's a good deal of immediate laughs to be had here, found in Ronnie's behavior with another character and how they're oblivious to each other in some way or another, or how Hard rock music and strutting slo-mo complement him while on-lookers are dumbfounded or confused or shocked. For example, Hill gives Ray Liotta his best role in awhile, sharply utilizing his intense temperament to make his character funny. But Hill appears more focused on getting under the skin and verging extremities in order to get a better grasp of who Ronnie is and why he behaves the way he does. Perhaps it's Ronnie's bipolar tendencies that propel the plot, leading our impassioned protagonist to a downfall and a warped idea of redemption. Ronnie isn't an antihero. He's a hero in his own mind and his own territory, and Rogen is more acutely committed to this performance than any before, leaping in with profundity and brooding. Therein lies the distinction between the bottom-feeding shenanigans of one Paul Blart and those of Ronnie Barnhardt.

The grandest indication that Rogen and Hill have scored something above average is when the authentic jolt and utter hilarity of a peak moment of violence reveals the stunner that everything had led up to that moment within reason, if only in Ronnie's line of reasoning. There is always something more rewarding about a comedy that achieves a careful tonal balancing act.

Watching Observe And Report, I remembered who Seth Rogen's character reminded me of. It was David Graf as Tackleberry in the Police Academy movies. If he was alive, he might appreciate was Seth Rogen was trying to do in this film. But honestly I can't think of anyone else who could.

Seth Rogen is a security guard who has bi-polar disorder and is not on his meds during this film. He'd love to be a policeman, but the Police Force where he lives has certain standards about mental stability for their officers. How narrow minded of them.

But Rogen sees an opportunity when a man starts exposing himself on a regular basis in the mall he works at. But he's ordered to Observe And Report to the regular police which in this case is personified by Ray Liotta.

If Observe And Report was supposed to be a comedy than I was misinformed. Sitting and watching this film, I was feeling sad about Rogen's delusions about himself. Even some of the comic moments and some were pretty funny were tinged with this overwhelming sadness I and I'm sure other members of the audience felt.

The two women in Rogen's life are flirt Anna Faris from the cosmetics counter and good girl Colette Wolfe from the food court. Rogen's got some staff with the security force with brothers John and Matt Yuan, Jesse Plemons, and Michael Pena. The last one is a big disappointment to him.

Observe And Report is a sad sack of a film with some amusing moments about a very pitiful character.

Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) is a self-deluded mall chief security guard and lives with his alcoholic mother (Celia Weston). He pines for the superficial cosmetic sales clerk Brandi (Anna Faris). There's the new girl Nell (Collette Wolfe) working at the food court. There's also a flasher stalking the mall parking lot. Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) comes to investigate. Working under Ronnie are the twins, Dennis (Michael Peña),and the kid Charles (Jesse Plemons). Then the mall gets robbed.

Coming so close after 'Paul Blart', it got lost in the confusion. Unlike that movie, this is a much darker affair and funnier because of it. It has some ridiculous stupidity and funny idiocy. Writer/director Jody Hill is the same guy that made 'The Foot Fist Way'. It has the same feel, but like that movie, this schtick does get tiring. Ronnie is arrogantly stupid, and petty. It's not really in Seth Rogen's wheelhouse. It's much more Danny McBride's character although I understand why they got the bigger star to lead.