Movie Review: The Other Guys (2010)
Now this is how you make a buddy cop comedy
Photo: Columbia Pictures
As a movie reviewer when someone tells you a movie "wasn't that bad" after reading your negative review it feels like sweet vindication when a movie comes along proving it doesn't benefit anyone to kowtow to a lesser product. As the second buddy cop comedy of 2010 arrives, The Others Guys proves patience is a virtue, not to mention it would appear Adam McKay can make a movie I actually like.
The cast includes Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Damon Wayans Jr., Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Anne Heche, Rob Riggle and Zoe Lister Jones. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"The Other Guys" is a Columbia Pictures release, directed by Adam McKay and is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, violence and some drug material. The running time is 1 hour 47 minutes.
To set up the story, Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star as New York City police detectives Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz respectively. Neither is well respected in the department as Allen prefers pushing papers over risking life and limb on the street, and Terry is a self-proclaimed "peacock" that only wants to fly, though a mishap with Derek Jeter a few years ago killed his confidence. Additionally, Allen's got a dark side and Terry isn't exactly the brightest bulb. In terms of a buddy cop comedy teaming, it works perfectly.
Ferrell plays a straight man most of the time, kindhearted, but just annoying enough to be that guy you'd rather not spend more than five minutes with at a time. Wahlberg plays Terry with the rage of his Departed counterpart Sergeant Dignam, but not nearly the wit. My only fear walking in was that both actors would be caught playing these character traits into the ground, but a well-mixed script written by McKay and Chris Henchy (Land of the Lost) gives each their due, not to mention boasts a solid supporting cast.
The first 15 minutes or so are dominated by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing Highsmith and Danson, a pair of swinging dicks that lay waste to the city in an opening police chase reminiscent of something you would see in one of Michael Bay's Bad Boys films. Jackson and Johnson play the parody to the hilt and it scores big laughs.
Another welcome addition is Michael Keaton as Police Captain Gene Mauch who also moonlights as a sales manager at Bed, Bath and Beyond and has a tendency to unknowingly quote TLC when dolling out words of wisdom. Eva Mendes as Allen's wife is also a bonus as it would seem comedies may be the best fit for her talent or lack thereof.
The easiest comparison is to call The Others Guys the American answer to Edgar Wright's Hot Fuzz. This isn't to say I'm comparing the two since they are drastically different in terms of their execution, but McKay shows a solid ability to interject moments of silliness, such as a late night rendezvous between Allen and his wife's mother, as well as a satisfying satirical look at not only the buddy cop films of the '80s — although they were an obvious inspiration — but pretty much all guns-blazing action films of late.
Best of all, The Other Guys tells us to not be satisfied with films that "aren't that bad" and at the very least require filmmakers give us something "good." Sometimes it's hard to admit you've spent hard earned money on a film that doesn't live up to expectation or the money you spent, but I feel I can safely say The Other Guys is a film you won't have that problem with.
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good stuff.. nice review brad
I saw it monday and they damn well deserved nothing than a B+ or higher.
I wanna see this. This looks hilarious. "I thought you said bad cop, bad cop". I love will ferrell. I gotta admit my favorite movie with him is Step Brothers. Hilarious.
HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD!? I didn't laugh once at this dull movie. The whole "Lion v. Tuna" bit was "Mildly Amusing" and the rest just disappointed. I haven't felt this deep a feeling of emptiness since right before I put on my underwear this morning. PS…You found Anchorman only "Mildly Amusing?" I don't wanna say anything more but I'll leave you with this, what you said about Step Brothers literally broke my heart.
I haven't seen it, I want to, but the trailer looks god-awful bad. Brad, I'm trusting you with my $20 dollars this weekend. Don't let me down!
Well definitely let me know what you think, comedy is the hardest genre in my opinion to recommend, which is why I included my opinion of the rest of McKay's films. Fingers crossed you enjoy it as much as I did.
I hope its good, i've been waiting for this movie for a while being a ferrell and wahlberg fan. But man, Anchorman is one of my fav comedies of all time and i really cant walk 100 feet at college without someone dropping a Step Brothers quote… different generation of comedies i guess.
Well, I just got back from seeing this movie. It cracked me up. Really. Will Ferrell isn't over doing the usual idiocy, and there are genuinely funny moments. The Tuna v. Lion part may be a little over-the-top, but it was the only sore point for me. And was it just me, or did Anne Heche make an appearance?
Yeah, I didn't even recognize her. It was mildly alarming eh?
She probably had more scenes than what was shown. As we all know, McKay/Ferrell films usually have a lot of deleted scenes and unrated DVD cuts.
yea comedy is a pretty hard thing to recommend. I dreaded dinner for shmucks, but for some reason , my friends died of laughter and loved every minute of it. I had no clue that was the kind of comedy they were into (very dull stupid comedy). I want to see this , so do they, so hopefully in the coming days we will check it out and it will satisfy us all. Im dying for something funny and if this doesnt help,it looks like ill have to wait till November 5th to laugh my ass off ( Due Date)
due date looks hilarious!
Damn straight!
The Other Guys was entertaining, but I wanted to like it more than I did. I didn't find it to be as funny as I hoped it would be, but I enjoyed the plot line, and the action sequences.
I was extremely let down by The Other Guys. I wanted to love it, and it had a few chuckles, but they were so few and far between that I found myself annoyed with the waiting time between smiles. Perhaps I have my Ferrell fanboyism to blame, but this film, to me, was 90+ minutes of unrealized potential.
There's a special place in my heart for Ron Burgundy, but I can't even remember the name of either of The Other Guys.