Law and order

Funnyman Seth Rogen puts up his (security) guard

 Having spent the last few years cultivating a lucrative career playing the loveable stoner, Seth Rogen tries for something a bit different in his latest film, “Observe and Report.” Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, a bipolar security guard obsessed with protecting his mall patrons.

But while Ronnie takes his pursuit of justice almost too seriously, Rogen didn’t approach the film as a drama.

“In my head it was all very funny,” he says. “The more serious and crazy it was, the funnier I thought it was after the take.”

To add to the humor, Rogen packed on the pounds for the part. “It seemed like it would be funny — the bigger Ronnie was, the less physically capable he looked. Because the joke is, he actually is pretty dangerous,” explains Rogen.

In a short time, the comic actor has built a reputation for being able to move between family-friendly films and more adult material. Rogen recently hit theaters as part of the voice cast for “Monsters vs. Aliens,” a far cry from “Observe.”

“I’m very thankful that people are allowing me to do this,” Rogen says. “I’m shocked that I can do a movie that has been described as transgressive and another that’s a delightful family romp.”

Transgressive is one way to put it. “Observe and Report” lays on intense amounts of violence and profanity.
“There was a conscious decision to make this film kind of dangerous and edgy,” explains writer/director Jody Hill.

“There have been a lot of ‘safe’ comedies, where everything’s a wink to the camera. I thought if you could root it in reality and then still have these crazy things go on, that it would have more impact.”

Of course, the filmmaker has had to contend with the success of that other movie about a shopping center security guard, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” which debuted in January. But for Hill, the similarities end at the main characters’ shared profession.

“Rather than a broad comedy, we wanted to make a character piece that you would see in the ’70s,” Hill explains. “We were focused more on ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘The King of Comedy.’”

For Rogen, the chance to make such a unique film was too good to pass up. “I thought the movie was awesome and insane,” he says. “I’d be standing there with a gun, and there’d be a guy covered in blood on the ground, and I’d be like, ‘What are we doing? This is nuts.’”