Observe and Report
Posted by martinteller on November 20, 2009
I have to say I appreciate what Jody Hill has done with this. The one thing I kept hearing over and over about this movie is “don’t expect a comedy, it’s more like Taxi Driver“. The truth is it’s somewhere in between, which strikes a very unusual tone. I’ve seen my share of black comedy, but never one that felt quite like this. The closest I can think of is The Dark Backward, but without being so unrelentingly annoying. So I kind of liked seeing something with such an odd balance to it. Having said that, I didn’t like much else about it. As a twisted character study (and yes, the Travis Bickle aspirations are painfully obvious) it almost works, as a black comedy it almost works, but never really seems to hit home on any level. It does make you feel icky, and I suppose that was probably the intention, but it doesn’t go anywhere with that. It’s just… unpleasant, but with a few laughs. I can’t say I enjoyed it very much, but I do think Hill’s got some guts. Rating: 6
