Observe and Report

"I thought this was gonna be funny, but instead it's just kinda sad."

—Det. Nichols, Observe and Report

Observe and Report (2009) is a very dark comedy starring Seth Rogen as a delusional mall security guard who becomes obsessed with catching a flasher. Being released 3 months after the PG-rated Paul Blart: Mall Cop, the films have drawn inevitable comparisons to each other.

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Tropes used in Observe and Report include:

• Affably Evil: Dennis seems to be a quiet-natured and supportive friend who genuinely believes he can help Ronnie... by getting him to steal, beat up kids and take heroin. Even after betraying Ronnie, he sends a friendly postcard.
• Alpha Bitch: Brandi through and through.
• Anti-Hero: Ronnie is a Type V.
• Backup Twin: Discussed. "If one of you died, God sent me another."
• Brainless Beauty: Brandi
• Black Comedy: The film is essentially Taxi Driver made funny.
• Black Comedy Rape: Brandi is possibly blackout drunk yet Ronnie has no qualms with having sex with her. Crosses the Line Twice when she asks, "Why are you stopping, motherfucker?" Though due to Ronnie's state of mind and Brandi's sexual appetite, whether or not it was rape is debatable.
• Black and Gray Morality
• Cloudcuckoolander: Deconstructed as sane people consider Ronnie a delusional person and try to avoid him for it.
• Cluster F-Bomb: "Why the fuck would I blow up Chick-Fil-A?! That place is fucking delicious!"
• Curb Stomp Battle: Ronnie vs. 6 crackheads. They're able to touch him once.
• Darker and Edgier than Paul Blart: Mall Cop, in no small part due to being Bloodier and Gorier.
• Disproportionate Retribution -
  • Ronnie shoots the flasher in the chest. Sure, he's a flasher, but gunfire is a bit much for such a petty criminal. He doesn't die and is duly arrested, though.
  • Ronnie might be a jerk and a hindrance, but Detective Harrison going out of his way to personally inform Ronnie that he failed the psychological test to become a police officer and the enjoyment he got from seeing Ronnie's dream crushed was just cruel. One of his fellow pranksters even calls him on it, saying it's "just sad."
• Damsel in Distress: What Ronnie considers Brandi. Nell is also in need of some manly backup.
• Dueling Movies: This film and Paul Blart Mall Cop, created completely independently, as most dueling films are.
• Hero Antagonist: Detective Harrison is just a cop trying to bust a flasher and butting heads with a seriously deranged mall cop, but he's also such a sleazebag that he manages to stay pretty firmly in the villain category.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Ronnie
• Hysterical Woman: Brandi after the flasher exposes himself to her
• Jerkass: Ronnie, Brandi and Harrison are all real jerks. In particular, Saddamn.
• Karma Houdini: Much like in Taxi Driver, Ronnie narrowly escapes punishment for his crimes by managing to become a hero at the last minute. Also, Dennis robs the mall frequently, gets Ronnie to beat kids for skateboarding on mall property, and ends up knocking Ronnie out and stealing a car to flee. The last we hear of him has him partying in Mexico.
• Lady Drunk: Ronnie's mom.
• The Mall: Where Ronnie is the head of security.
• Miles Gloriosus: Subverted. Ronnie appears to be an example, until he unleashes a Curb Stomp Battle on some hoods.
• Momma's Boy: Ronnie. Never really explained whether he lives with his mom or she with him.
• Mugging the Monster: Some drug dealers try to victimize Ronnie when he's dropped off in their hood. Even the audience doesn't realize how crazy violent he is until this point.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Even if you don't consider Ronnie to be a good guy, what he does to Nell's boss and coworker qualifies as "two wrongs making a right".
• No Medication for Me: Ronnie abruptly decides to go off his meds.
• One-Scene Wonder: Aziz Ansari as a salesman Ronnie accuses of being a terrorist.
• Only Child Syndrome: Ronnie
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Ronnie tries to go undercover to catch the flasher. No one is fooled.
• Playing Against Type: While Rogen has played jerks before, he earned his fame playing likable schlubs. Many viewers expected Ronnie to be along a similar line, rather than the seriously disturbed man that he is.
• Secret Test of Character: What Ronnie believes being left at "the crossroads" was.
• Shout-Out: Ronnie's brawl with the police is choreographed like the football-themed brawl in Flash Gordon, and features the same music.
• Stalker with a Crush: Ronnie to Brandi.
• Stood Up: What Brandi tried to do to Ronnie. Subverted when he waits outside her house for hours until she arrives and convinces her to still go out with him.
• Throwing Off the Disability: Nell, towards the end, though she was never truly disabled; she was just recovering from surgery.