The camera work in this video is positively Parkinsonian, so you may want to just enjoy this as an audio interview. If you do watch the whole thing, don’t blame me for your seasickness. I’m trying. I’ll get a mount of some kind soon.
I never heard of Jody Hill before last year, when I saw his directorial debut The Foot Fist Way. Now I can’t wait to see what he has coming next. Foot Fist was an out of left field joy, a totally unique and uncompromising and hilarious film. His co-collaborators on that – Ben Best and Danny McBride – rejoined him to create the HBO series Eastbound and Down, which is already looking like it’s earned a place in the annals of great television.
For Observe and Report Jody has struck out on his own, and shown that his first film was no fluke. In fact, he may have been going for a more commercial sensibility with Foot Fist. Take that as you will.
Observe and Report might be a masterpiece. It’s certainly an incredibly singular work of art, and it’s incredibly ballsy – in every meaning possible. A couple of weeks back I had a chance to sit down with Jody, who seems a little worried about how people will receive this dark, funny and fucking awesome vision. Here’s how that conversation went. Warning! It may contain spoilers for the movie: