Observe and Report

Play trailer

Observe and Report

R

2009

1h 26m

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

51%

Tomatometer

208 Reviews

37%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

As head of security at the Forest Ridge Mall, Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) takes his job very seriously, enforcing mall rules with an iron fist. When a flasher strikes Forest Ridge, Ronnie sees a chance to display his unappreciated cop skills and bring the felon to justice, and, at the same time, impress his dream girl (Anna Faris) and win a coveted spot at the police academy.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Though it has a mean streak, and does not cater to all tastes, Observe and Report has gut-busting laughs and a fully committed Seth Rogen in irresistible form.

Read Critics Reviews

Tom Charity

CNN.com

More than once, writer-director Jody Hill teases out the slippy, gray area between a subversive gross-out gag and something unsettlingly misogynist. He wants to push buttons, and he's talented enough to get away with it.

Apr 10, 2019

Full Review

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

Much of the movie is just plain vicious. At best, it's sad and grotesque, rather than hilarious.

Rated: 2/5

May 14, 2009

Full Review

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Writer-director Jody Hill thinks he's trying to push the envelope but doesn't know in which direction, or why.

Rated: 1/5

May 7, 2009

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The film’s tone is somewhere between Napoleon Dynamite and Taxi Driver, in an unexpected and clever way.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 1, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

In-your-face and out-of-control, but very wickedly funny.

Rated: 8/10

Nov 29, 2020

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Seth Rogen gives what is easily the best performance of his career.

Rated: 2.5/4.0

Sep 18, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Matheus F

The chemistry between Ray Liotta and Seth Rogen is perfectly hilarious. Jody Hill is one of the best directors/writers of comedy films and HBO Tv Shows where Danny McBride shines.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/26/25

Full Review

AMJH 4

I absolutely LOVE this film! It's hilarious and SO quotable, which is the 2 important/key ingredients for me in comedies. It's unbelievably underrated. Yes it's dark, but I STILL seriously believe its one of Seth Rogens best and funniest films and roles.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/03/25

Full Review

Robert L

Seriously couldn't watch more than ten minutes of this crap.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/26/25

Full Review

Brad S. R

Someone someday will have to explain the appeal to me of loud-mouth Seth Rogan. Nothing in Observe and Report was memorable or funny, though I vividly remember the tedium of sitting through it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/20/25

Full Review

Jamison D

Quite literally the greatest movie I have ever watched, an absolute masterpiece that will never be topped unless they make a sequel. Seth Rogan may be the greatest actor of our generation and nell is the goat.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/25

Full Review

tim k

I regretted renting this immediately. It started bad and got even worse. If you think this might be similar to Mall Cop, which I was kind of hoping, it is a radically different kind of movie. It was more disturbing than anything else. Spoiler alert. The director obviously wanted to shock by having a chubby guy running around naked. And I mean full frontal. Also, Ray Liotta yelling is not a pretty site, and the humor is more of a "Hangover" type humor, which is to say, not funny to most people.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/03/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Jody Hill

Director

Seth Rogen

Ronnie Barnhardt

Ray Liotta

Detective Harrison

Michael Peña

Dennis

Anna Faris

Brandi

Dan Bakkedahl

Mark

I Love You, Man

82%

74%

I Love You, Man

Watchlist

TRAILER

for I Love You, Man

Mystery Team

60%

64%

Mystery Team

Watchlist

The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard.

26%

37%

The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard.

Watchlist

Extract

62%

38%

Extract

Watchlist

The Promotion

54%

28%

The Promotion

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

RT on DVD: Observe and Report, Classic Star Trek, and more.

Critics Consensus: Hannah Montana Hits A Flat Note

Total Recall: Seth Rogen’s Best Movies

View more photos

Synopsis

As head of security at the Forest Ridge Mall, Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) takes his job very seriously, enforcing mall rules with an iron fist. When a flasher strikes Forest Ridge, Ronnie sees a chance to display his unappreciated cop skills and bring the felon to justice, and, at the same time, impress his dream girl (Anna Faris) and win a coveted spot at the police academy.

Director: Jody Hill
Producer: Donald De Line
Screenwriter: Jody Hill
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: De Line Pictures
Rating: R (Graphic Nudity|Drug Use|Pervasive Language|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 10, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 2, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $24.0M
Runtime: 1h 26m

Most Popular at Home Now