The Other Guys

The Other Guys

The Other Guys is probably one of the most uneven Will Ferrell films I’ve seen in a while.  I found myself rewriting the movie as it went along.  Now, there are some really funny moments, but most of it just seems like the writers were throwing things at the wall and seeing what would stick. 

Two desk cops stumble into an important crime that is taking place under the noses of the city and attempt to discover the truth about what is going on behind the scenes. 

I’ll come out and say this; Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson are the best things about the movie, and I wished the entire movie were about them instead of Marky-Mark and Ferrell.  Jackson and Johnson’s characters are complete parodies of the action stars from the 90s and 2000s, and every scene they’re in, if brief, is funny. 

“Aim for the bushes.” 

The scene where they exit the movie is probably one of the best scenes ever created.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.   It is a shame to see these two leave the movie so quickly though, but damn that was funny.

Mark Wahlberg is completely out of his league in the movie, and it feels like he’s trying to play catch up with the rest of the cast.  Mark spends most of the movie shouting and wining.  It gets to the point that he just comes across annoying and not even funny.  He doesn’t really play a good straight man to Will Ferrell. 

Wahlberg had no reason to be in the movie and actually weakens an already weak movie. 

Ferrell fares better.  He’s basically playing the same character he’s played in every movie for the past ten years, and that’s fine.  I just wished he had better script than the one he received.  He’s trying his best to be funny, but it just seems to be just that “trying”.

Speaking of the script, the story has numerous problems that needed to be ironed out with a few more re-writes.  I liked the script better than the other cop comedy Cop Out, but the movie has some of the same problems as Cop Out.  However, there are more funny moments in this movie than the Kevin Smith film. 

In the end, The Other Guys needed a bit more polish.  The movie already had an uphill battle with it starring Marky-Mark, but a better script could have elevated the movie.  There are scenes that are totally laugh out funny and you will remember them for a long time, but they are just scenes.  Movie on a whole isn’t great, but acceptable.   

Grade: C

Best things about the movie.  "Aim for the bushes"