Get your fucking ideas of any previous Seth Rogen film out of your head right now. Good?! Okay, lets forge ahead. Remember when you saw Punch Drunk Love with that one friend who was so mortified when it wasn’t Happy Gilmore 2? Or were you one of those people that ended up disappointed after Jim Carey broke away from his usual in The Cable Guy? Well be prepared to face a similar fate with this film. To call this a “nihilistic comedy” would be perfectly reasonable but if you dig deeper, you find so much more. You find a true, real life drama that no matter what your background is you can, at some level, connect with, flaws and all. That might seem like a scary thought but if you can look past how the film is being marketed (which will only hurt the film in the long run) and go into it with objective eyes, you too might be surprised what you see in the mirror when you inspect Seth Rogen’s damaged character, mall cop Ronnie Barnhardt.
I’ve heard Rogen doing press for the film and he often refers to his character as the bad guy of the movie and I see where he’s coming from with this assessment but this is a bad guy you can’t help but to cheer on, no matter how much of an self-centered asshole he is. Once you look past his righteous facade, you get to see heart and it came across surprisingly well. I mean Rogen here was not just playing his regular, funny self. Dude was displaying his acting chops! And it came off as very well done and impressed me to no end. No sign of his trademark stoner laugh throughout the whole film and I think if I would of heard that even one time, it would have taken me out of the realness he was displaying on screen as his character “Ronnie”.
Anna Farris, Ray Liotta, Michael Peña (who’s turn to comedy was a successful one, I might add) and including many guest spots from people like Patton Oswald, Aziz Ansari & Danny McBride all did a wonderful job orbiting Planet Rogen through the film. Just take note that all these roles take back seat to the main character and although the marketing might paint a different picture, this is a Rogen vehicle all the way. And director Jody Hill did a pretty good job here, too. Almost seeming to channel Wes Anderson in some instances. Definitely going to keep an eye on dude.
When I went into the film I already had an idea that this was going to be a different film from the usual fodder we get from Rogen and I was correct. But when these films come through you just never know if it’s going to work or just fall on the wayside as another excercise for everyone involved until the next big picture. Everyone really seemed in tune on this film and you can really see that shine through. Although I’m pretty sure that most mainstream audiences will not like this surprising turn for the comedic actor, I would recommend you check out the film and see what this team has created here because at the very least, it’s unique. It’s nothing über groundbreaking but it is a creature the likes of I haven’t seen to many of around.
i thought it was a pretty weak effort. i don’t mind that it was something different, but it wasn’t even funny at all. it had a few moments, but overall it was just slow, boring and predictable.
and ‘where is my mind’ is now ruined.