The Other Guys (2010) Review

Written and directed by Adam McKay, The Other Guys pairs up Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as Detectives Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz. They’re the guys who stay behind and do paperwork, play solitaire and are generally mocked and ridiculed by other detectives who actually go out and fight crime on the streets.

When the precinct’s two star detectives, Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) are stupidly killed while out on a job, Terry convinces Allen that it’s their big chance to prove themselves and gain the respect of their peers. As they’re out investigating an insurance fraud case, they realise its much bigger than they first thought but no one seems to believe that they really have a lead. Their Captain (Michael Keaton) splits them up; Allen tries to solve the case on his own and Terry becomes happy in his new job as traffic warden. After some convincing though the duo start working on the case together again and try to bring down a huge insurance scam masterminded by billionaire David Ershon (Steve Coogan).

This film is the fourth collaboration between Ferrell and McKay, following Anchorman (2004), Talladega Nights (2006), and Step Brothers (2008) but the humour is extremely dry and becomes stale after the first 10 minutes. After then it seems to drag on to its underwhelming finale. One of the main problems for me was that its story was just uninteresting. I don’t mind if something is unbelievable because for a couple of hours I am happy to suspend belief for the sake of something interesting and worth my time but sadly this one wasn’t.

I think a slightly more interesting story would have been Danson and Highsmith’s but we’ve seen the good cop/crazy cop routine so many times before it starts to become a bad parody of itself filled with clichés and stale jokes which is exactly what The Other Guys is. Early on though the banter of insults is entertaining, especially with lines like “The sound of your piss hitting the urinal, it sounds feminine to me!” which Hoitz says to Gamble.

If I had the choice between The Other Guys and the other film, I know what I’d choose. This one really wasn’t doing it for me. For a really great “good cop, crazy cop” film, there’s always Lethal Weapon (1987), or even Dragnet (1987), but not The Other Guys, unless you’re a Ferrell fan.

Static Mass Rating  ★★★★★

The Other Guys is released in cinemas from September 17th 2010 and is distributed by Sony Pictures.

Certificate: 12A
Running time: 107 minutes

Directed by Adam McKay
Produced by Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Miller and Patrick Crowley
Written by Chris Henchy, Adam McKay

CAST:
Narrated by Ice-T
Will Ferrell
Mark Wahlberg
Michael Keaton
Dwayne Johnson
Samuel L. Jackson
Steve Coogan
Eva Mendes
Anne Heche.

LINKS:
Official Movie Site

The Other Guys is released in UK cinemas from September 17th 2010 and is distributed by Sony Pictures.