The Other Guys

I don't normally write reviews but after reading some of the awful reviews some people wrote about this film I had to come to its defence.

This film had me laughing from start to finish. If you like the silliness of Will Ferrell films or the humour in Ted then you will love this film. The comedy can be played very deadpan despite the surrealness (is that a word) of the situation. The comic timing is great and the chemistry between all the main characters is excellent. When I saw this film only had a 6.7 IMDb rating I was a little reluctant to watch it but I saw the trailer and that drew me in. I didn't regret it.

If you want some great laughs, watch this film.

Will Ferrell is back since the disappointing "Land of the Lost"! Who knew Mark Wahlberg could be genuinely hilarious? "The Other Guys" is the latest comedy to poke fun at the buddy cop genre, but this one is one of the best because the actors and director knew what they were doing.

Ferrell and Wahlberg have terrific chemistry and both of them have perfect comedic timing. But let's not forget the other supporting actors (too many to list here), as all of them have some memorable and quotable lines.

The jokes weave through slapstick and crude territory, while not being overly vulgar and overdone. The story is actually pretty engaging, as it is a genuine cop mystery at its core, but it is used as a vehicle for all the jokes to come in. And the jokes kept coming and had the entire audience laughing as well, this one the loudest compared to the previous Steve Carell entries "Date Night" and "Dinner For Schmucks". Sorry Steve, this year Will and Mark stole the audience.

Having said that, the production design, cinematography, editing, stunts/special effects are good, and the direction by Adam McKay is lighthearted and brisk. McKay is seriously becoming a big name in comedy film directors, and here is another memorable feather in his cap.

Overall, if you are in need of a laugh, see this movie A.S.A.P. This one is one of the funniest movies in years, and that's being honest.

Overall rating: 73/10

P.K. Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Christopher Danson (Dwayne Johnson) are the best action hero rock star cops in the NYPD. They get into outlandish chases for nothing arrests. Everybody loves them. Martin (Rob Riggle) and Fosse (Damon Wayans Jr.) are the jokers. Captain Gene Mauch (Michael Keaton) is in charge. Then there are the Other Guys. Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) is a naive paper pusher. His partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) is still trying to make up for shooting Derek Jeter. Gamble is eager to do paperwork for the heroes and Hoitz hates him for it. Highsmith and Danson finally kill themselves stupidly in a chase. Everybody wants to be the next hero cops. Hoitz forces Gamble to take on a high profile case. David Ershon (Steve Coogan) is an investment banker who lost $32 billion of Pamela Boardman (Anne Heche)'s fund. She demands that he replace the losses and he tries to go on the run. Gamble arrests Ershon on a scaffolding permit violation but a professional team takes him. On the personal side, Hoitz can't believe that Gamble is married to Sheila (Eva Mendes).

I would have loved a buddy cop movie with Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. This is just as good in a completely different way. Ferrell is hilarious and Wahlberg is the perfect angry foil. The fighting partners have great chemistry. The angrier Wahlberg gets, the funnier the movie gets. Adam McKay has a great sense of the ridiculous. The story is stupid. The setups are insane. The dialog is hilarious. There are some gut busting laughs.

OK first off I will say that the story was just OK. But that usually happens in comedies. So you have to rely more on the film trying to make the viewer laugh. If you are a fan of Will Ferrell's comedy and Mark Wahlberg, then you will pretty much laugh throughout the film. Ferrell really gets to act like himself in this film. I mean he is playing a character, but he gets to use his typical humor. Wahlberg plays a really angry cop and some of the things that come out of his mouth will really get you laughing. I actually laughed more at Wahlberg than Ferrell. Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson are in the film a bit as the head cops; like a newer Starsky and Hutch. They were entertaining. Eva Mendes plays Ferrell's wife and she is actually entertaining. Then the chief of the police station is played by Michael Keaton. Throughout the movie he kept quoting from the group TLC. He was actually also pretty funny. You will find yourself laughing a lot throughout the film. But there are some parts where they do try to be serious and most of the time it can be a turn off in a good comedy. There are some great one liners and scenes that will stick in your mind. So a pretty good comedy and I will end by saying, I want to see Mark Mahlberg do more comedic roles, because he is pretty good in them.

I'm disappointed to see that this film still hasn't garnered the attnention it deserves. Even back when it came out it did so pretty quietly and was thus buried under other big budget flicks. Rarely though does a comedy keep you entertained and laughing throughout pretty much the entire film. Most comedies try and fail, or take breaks from the humor with someone else to preserve material. But Ferrell and Wahlberg play off of eachother perfectly in this film and have real chemistry to keep the film quality high. This is also one of the mostquotable films ever. 9 years later and my dad and I still shoot off a "I'm a peacock captain, you gotta let me fly", or a "if I were a lion and you were a tuna I'd swim out to the middle of the ocean and freakin eat you" every once in a short while. I definitely recommend this movie for fans of comedy