Observe and Report is one of the most polarizing films of the year. But then, comedy has always been one of the most polarizing of genres. Part of the problem with this latest effort from Foot Fist Way director Jody Hill, is that too much of the time, it isn't particularly funny.

In Observe and Report, the portly Seth Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, a bi-polar mall cop who can't handle not being the center of attention. When a mysterious flasher starts wreaking havoc amongst the mall's patrons, Barnhardt springs into action. In the process, he tries to win the affection of a snobby department store employee (played by Anna Faris) who hardly even knows he exists. Complications arise when the head of the mall calls in the city police department. Naturally, Barnhardt doesn't take kindly to this news. The mall is his domain and when he's forced to share the limelight with an actual police officer (played by Ray Liotta), it isn't long before contention sets in.

Observe and Report has some seriously funny moments, but quite often, the film is more interested in shocking us than making us laugh. Tonally, the movie is all over the map, and at times, this flick felt every bit as bi-polar as its lead character.

Hill is obviously going for a different kind of humor here. This is essentially a black comedy but Observe and Report never quite finds the right balance of big time laughs and sheer mean spiritedness. This movie clearly offers up more of the latter. Furthermore, aside from a cute food court employee (played by the adorable Collette Wolfe), there really isn't a character worth giving a damn about. Barnhardt is a complete and utter a-hole, but you'll probably find yourself rooting for him because everyone else in the picture appears to be a bigger a-hole than he is.

Some have been quick to suggest that Rogen is just repeating the lovable loser schtick we've already seen him do, while others are simply writing this turn off as completely forgettable. I actually quite liked Rogen here, and while the early portions of the film show him in a familiar light, he ultimately takes the clueless Barnhardt into some interesting directions. At the very least, there's a sense of potential here that I also felt when I saw Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love. The strongest performance in Observe and Report comes courtesy of Celia Weston , who hits all the right notes as Barnhardt's alcoholic mother. Weston's dead pan delivery and spaced out expressions bring a lot of life to the picture.

Jody Hill's direction is spotty at best. The majority of the film feels surprisingly amateurish in terms of execution, but every so often, the film bursts with a CREATIVE flourish (watch for an insane sequence in which a lead character drives a vehicle straight through a massive mall window).

Black comedies can be effective. War of the Roses is a perfect example of this. The mean spirited nature of that film works because the situations as presented in War of the Roses are completely relatable. It's basically Die Hard meets Divorce Court. Observe and Report doesn't fare as well. In its eager attempt to unnerve the audience it often forgets that its main agenda is simply to make us laugh. And while there are certainly moments that had me keeling over in hysterics–the climactic flasher sequence gives the nude wrestling bit in the superior Borat a run for its money–Observe and Report lacks consistency.