BOTTOM
LINE:
At
the core of this film is a great idea for an action comedy, but
as happens so often in Hollywood, the script does not give the film’s
well assembled cast much to work with, leaving a film that barely
satisfies on any level.
THE
GOOD: The
idea of a policy buddy comedy focusing on the normal guys who do
not get the action, and pale in comparison to the real heroes that
closely resemble what we usually see in films like these, is an
excellent place to start for “The Other Guys”. Although
seeming like an odd match, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are brilliantly
cast as odd-couple police detectives Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz
who are largely considered to be the buffoons of the department.
When the star detectives Highsmith (Jackson) and Danson (Johnson)
‘die’ in the line of duty, a door opens for two new
detectives to take their place as the stars of the department. Of
course, Gamble and Hoitz stumble their way through a few hilarious
sequences of mayhem before they end up solving the big case. What
works in this film is the casting, and a few really good attempts
at comedy. Ferrell plays the straight man this time out, with Wahlberg
as the angry and short-tempered personality, which works surprisingly
well. Eva Mendes is excellent as Gamble’s wife, and her treatment
in the story as an ‘average’ looking girl is very funny.
Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson ham it up beautifully in their
extended cameos at the beginning of the film. The capper would have
to be the red Toyota Prius that Gamble and Hoitz get around in.
There are a few visual flashes of brilliance that you might not
expect in a film like this, such as Gamble and Hoitz’s big
night on the town shown in an extended photograph-like sequence.
“The Other Guys” is good in concept, and has a few moments
of genuinely good comedy.
