Observe and Report

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for this pitch—an extremely dark comedy centered around a disturbed head of mall security, played by an actor known more for his smoking habits than his acting chops. There are some pretty good gags here, including the gutbusting way the climactic chase ends, but the vicious, grotesque nature of the conveyed story aims for shocks over enlightenment. The darkest “joke” in the film involves an act of sexual assault that’s basically forgotten as quickly as it happens. The talented, game cast can’t save this rude, mean-spirited script.

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