The upcoming Seth Rogen comedy OBSERVE AND REPORT has been getting peculiar word of mouth. From all apparent indications, the film is only a comedy in the barest sense of the word. Most people who have seen it seem to be bewildered by the amount of violence and sadism in the film.

Those reactions mirror the feelings I had after seeing Rogen’s PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, a promising comedy that, in my mind, devolved into a gratuitously violent bloodbath. I never could make that leap between the two disparate halves of the film.

I’m not sure if it’s Rogen or someone else pushing for this type of comedy/psychodrama, but the effect is uncomfortably jarring. I have no problem with a film goosing our expectations, or taking us in entirely new and unexpected directions, but the violence is so off-putting and extreme in comparison to the genial, buddy-buddy vibe given off by Rogen and the script. Rogen comes off as a nice guy; it’s painful to see him get shot or go on a rampage. It would be like Tom Hanks picking up an Uzi halfway through FORREST GUMP and hunting down Jenny.

From this clip, the film looks like it has some funny moments. I really like this banter here, especially Rogen’s delivery of the line that forms the title of this article. Hopefully there are more moments like this one, and less like the half hour killing spree that ended PINEAPPLE EXPRESS.

I’m not sure if the levels of violence in OBSERVE AND REPORT are justified in a film about a mall cop. We shall see. But it makes me curious as to why Rogen continues to pick films that combine these elements in such extreme ways. He would do well to observe the career path of Jim Carrey, who attempted such material with THE CABLE GUY, only to see it tarnish his golden run of hits. I’d hate to see that happen to Rogen as well.