Rewind - 5 Favorite Films Featuring Seth Rogen ~ LightsRemoteAction

Five Favorite Films Featuring...

Seth Rogen

This list is in no particular order. These are just some of my favorite films that Seth Rogen, the actor and star of the new film The Green Hornet, has been in over the years that I enjoyed either solely because of him or it was a generally well made and enjoyable film.

Observe & Report

Probably my favorite performance from Rogen here. His character Ronnie, the head of security at some random mall, is not exactly the usual protagonist you get in films. He is a stalker, can be extremely violent, a racist, and date rapes Anna Faris! But that is all countered by him relentlessly chasing down the pervert that has been showing off all his goodies to mall shoppers and how he stands up for the injured and fragile woman working at the local concession stand whenever her boss is mean to her (by beating the crap out of him). Rogen earned a lot of points with me by being in this film and that's not to say I disliked the guy before this, I just started getting worried that he would always be playing the same role. This changed all that and made him a more well rounded actor in my opinion, plus this movie is just f**king delicious!

Zack & Miri Make a Porno

This has slowly become one of my favorite Kevin Smith films and a lot of that is due to both Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. The two of them formed such a believable friendship that they really did seem like they knew each other their entire lives. Rogen didn't stray too far from his normal character type though but he was much more reserved here than normal. I enjoyed seeing him straddle (pun very much intended) a more dramatic tone with a comedic one and thought he did a fine job here. While I can't say the film rested on his shoulders (it is much more of a ensemble piece), I couldn't really see anyone else being paired up with Banks that would have worked out as well as it did. It is a fun film that any Rogen fan can find some humor and heart in.

Knocked Up

Seth Rogen's first real starring role, Knocked Up was more or less a film about the geek that gets the girl by growing up...and by getting her pregnant. While it has been a while since I have seen the film I do remember Rogen taking the lead male role with authority and showing everyone that he had just the right mixture of humility and charisma to pull it off. Katherine Heigl I have never been a big fan of (I don't know why) but I found the two of them to be a fairly likable if unlikely couple, however that was what the film was about so it worked out fine in that regard. I was happy to see Rogen get his shot and nail it, now if only he would stray further away from that type-casting we will probably see he has much more to offer than just that lovable geeky guy stereotype.

40 Year Old Virgin

Now this was my first introduction to Seth Rogen, he didn't star in it but man did he steal just about every scene he was in. When he was instructing Steve Carell on how to hook up with a woman with his plant metaphor "A woman is like a plant, you have to plant the seed, water it, care for it, and when it turns into a plant, f**k it!", brilliant. This is yet another ensemble film that is filled with some of the funniest people working today (he hooks up with Elisabeth Banks here as well!). After this he was definitely on my radar and it solidified him as a guy to watch out for in the future. Plus this is where I was first introduced to that signature Rogen laugh, fantastic.

Funny People

I wanna go on record here and say that I haven't cared for Adam Sandler for a long time now. That being said though he did alright here and took the role as the lovable jerk of the film away from Rogen which up until this point with a couple exceptions had been his main shtick. This was the first film I got to see a vulnerable side to the funny man (and I am talking about Rogen here) that really helped me relate to the guy more than I had in the past. He played a man trying to make it in a tough business that got the opportunity of a life time in a way that seemed real to me. His excitement to be working with a legend in his field was completely believable as was his confusion and bewilderment during the last 30 minutes of the film. All in all this is probably his most grounded character to date and another fine dramatic/comedic performance from him.