‘The Other Guys’ offers plenty of laughs for Ferrell fans
The buddy cop movie is not a new genre. There are the
straightforward action films such as the
”
Lethal Weapon
”
series and there are the funny action films such as
”
Bad Boys.
”
It’s not usually a genre I am all that interested in, especially
since I saw the low-brow
”
Cop Out
”
earlier this year, with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis.
But I decided to see
”
The Other Guys
”
last weekend anyway in hopes that it might provide a few laughs
since there haven’t been that many good comedies out so far this
year.
‘The Other Guys’ offers plenty of laughs for Ferrell fans
The buddy cop movie is not a new genre. There are the straightforward action films such as the “Lethal Weapon” series and there are the funny action films such as “Bad Boys.” It’s not usually a genre I am all that interested in, especially since I saw the low-brow “Cop Out” earlier this year, with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis.
But I decided to see “The Other Guys” last weekend anyway in hopes that it might provide a few laughs since there haven’t been that many good comedies out so far this year.
The latest Will Ferrell vehicle is written and directed by Adam McKay, with whom Ferrell worked on “Talladega Nights,” and the very funny Internet short “The Landlord.”
I’ve seen a few Ferrell movies, including “Step Brothers,” “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” Though I haven’t liked every movie I’ve seen with him, most of them do make me laugh. Ferrell has a gift for committing to his roles even when his characters are doing the most outrageous things. He always plays it with a straight face.
In “The Other Guys,” Ferrell plays Allen Gamble, a man not unlike his character in “Stranger Than Fiction,” except not quite so straight laced. He is a forensic accountant who prefers to stay at his desk and work on other people’s paperwork rather than go out into the field himself.
He is a stark contrast to the station’s heroes, Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwyane Johnson), who start the movie off with a high-speed chase to rival that in any action film. When the two come to a tragic demise, Gamble’s partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) sees an opportunity to regain his status by becoming the new station heroes.
Hoitz was a rising star of the precinct when he accidentally shot baseball phenom Derek Jeter. After that, he became as much of a pariah as Gamble. Hoitz has anger issues and even though, things don’t always work out for him, he always tries to do the right thing.
Hoitz pushes Gamble out into the field – at gun point – because he wants a chance to get some bad guys. The two end up going after David Ershon (Steve Coogan,) a billionaire financier who hasn’t pulled scaffolding permits on buildings he is renovating. It’s the kind of crime that code enforcement probably handles, but the detectives find themselves embroiled in something more than they bargain for. But no one believes that Ershon is up to no good.
Capt. Gene Mauch (played hilariously by Michael Keaton) just keeps pulling the pair off assignments – and he takes away Gambles gun and replaces it with a wooden one because he doesn’t trust him with a fire arm.
Though Ferrell is always funny, Wahlberg, who mostly stars in drama or action films, holds his own in the comedy. The scenes of him throwing tantrums at the police station when things don’t go his way are funny. After all, who hasn’t felt like stomping on a malfunctioning computer every once in a while, though most of us would never actually act on it. Hoitz speaks before he thinks, but Wahlberg is good at playing a character with so little impulse control.
The best moments in the film are the scenes shared between Ferrell and Wahlberg. In a few magazine articles, the actors talked about how McKay encouraged them to improvise some of the scenes. It gives the movie less of a packaged feel and allows for some really funny moments.
Aside from some racy exchanges between Gamble and his wife, played by Eva Mendes, the movie seemed tamer than most Ferrell films. Mendes adds some humor to the movie as Gamble’s super hot, super smart doctor wife. He seems oblivious to how awesome his wife is, but it’s not lost on Hoitz who almost drools over her. Steve Coogan is also funny as the financier whose scheme the two detectives stumble upon. The crime in this caper has been updated to reflect the current financial situation.
The movie is a definite one to see for fans of Ferrell’s work, but even those who aren’t so keen on him may enjoy it. And stay for the ending credits. There are some interesting graphics that explain Ponzi schemes, the increase in CEO salary through the year and other things that if they aren’t a crime, should be.
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected]. She writes a blog at http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com where she writes about movies, TV, food and more.
