Observe and Report
0
Posted
April 9, 2009 in
Film
Seth Rogen—God love him—is no leading man. It’s not because he’s doughy or awkward; he’s been increasingly less of both, and the movies have only gotten worse. Soon, Rogen will have muscled up into the role he really wants: Rambo. How else to explain the shoot-em-up climax of Pineapple Express, an unfunny joke now stretched out into a full flick where the ratio of smiles to blood spatters isn’t in anyone’s favor. In the general view, Rogen is a comedian. But in his starring films, he isn’t. He’s a distilled and dislikeable straight man, 80 pounds of charisma away from his whirlwind cameos in other comedies. More is less. Here, he’s Ronnie the mall cop—a racist, stupid, paranoiac bully who Tazes 10-cent perps for kicks. Danny McBride could salvage the character with a flip of his mullet; Rogen makes us shift uneasily in our seats. When the police force rejects him for being psychologically unsound, we don’t sympathize, we agree. But writer-director Jody Hill layers the moment with emo music that expects us to play along and hope this creep makes good. Hill must have learned his sense of humor in prison. A gag where Rogen boozes and nails his dream girl Anna Faris, inert under his humping on a vomit-stained pillow? In civilization: Not funny. Hill isn’t alone in wasting Faris’ talent, but his script has only three female characters, two drunk, easy lays and a born-again virgin. That it’s framed as a comedy and most moviegoers don’t want to admit they’ve been swindled until the sting in their wallet lessens will trigger reluctant chuckles in the theater, but this is punishing anti-humor that drips with loathing, not laughter. (Amy Nicholson)
Seth Rogen—God love him—is no leading man. It’s not because he’s doughy or awkward; he’s been increasingly less of both, and the movies have only gotten worse. Soon, Rogen will have muscled up into the role he really wants: Rambo. How else to explain the shoot-em-up climax of Pineapple Express, an unfunny joke now stretched out into a full flick where the ratio of smiles to blood spatters isn’t in anyone’s favor. In the general view, Rogen is a comedian. But in his starring films, he isn’t. He’s a distilled and dislikeable straight man, 80 pounds of charisma away from his whirlwind cameos in other comedies. More is less. Here, he’s Ronnie the mall cop—a racist, stupid, paranoiac bully who Tazes 10-cent perps for kicks. Danny McBride could salvage the character with a flip of his mullet; Rogen makes us shift uneasily in our seats. When the police force rejects him for being psychologically unsound, we don’t sympathize, we agree. But writer-director Jody Hill layers the moment with emo music that expects us to play along and hope this creep makes good. Hill must have learned his sense of humor in prison. A gag where Rogen boozes and nails his dream girl Anna Faris, inert under his humping on a vomit-stained pillow? In civilization: Not funny. Hill isn’t alone in wasting Faris’ talent, but his script has only three female characters, two drunk, easy lays and a born-again virgin. That it’s framed as a comedy and most moviegoers don’t want to admit they’ve been swindled until the sting in their wallet lessens will trigger reluctant chuckles in the theater, but this is punishing anti-humor that drips with loathing, not laughter. (Amy Nicholson)
