Movie Review: The Other Guys
It seems an extraordinary feat to create a movie with Will Ferrell in it that’s not funny, but unfortunately, that’s just what Adam McKay did.
The Other Guys, a story about two NYPD desk jockeys, one of which was on the way up until he shot Derek Jeter in the leg during the World Series, come into their own by solving a massive financial scheme which would ruin the NYPD pension fund.
Sound hilarious? I didn’t think so either.
I don’t mean to pin this all on the film’s director and co-writer, Adam McKay. The casting was average, but the real problem was with Mark Wahlberg. He didn’t seem to have a good rapport with Mr. Ferrell, and their characters never seemed to evolve into “the next great cop duo of NYC†the film called for.
Mr. Wahlberg’s character, Terry Hoitz, had serious potential if only Dwayne Johnson portrayed him, rather than his actual character, Christopher Danson, one-half of the NYC über-cop team, which also consisted of Samuel L. Jackson as P.K. Highsmith. Like the stereotypical criminals in the film, Mr. Wahlberg just seemed like the wrong guy in the wrong part at the wrong time. His character was such a mishmash of unfinished comedy bits that I started to wonder if Mr. Wahlberg even silently questioned their rationale during filming.
Mr. Ferrell seemed trapped in his wound-too-tight character while the script never took advantage of his ridiculous college-age pimp back story. Mr. Ferrell did have some moments that reminded me why I bought the ticket in the first place, but not enough to give me confidence that this Ferrell/McKay team really put their all into this effort. Unfortunately I found myself wanting to laugh out of desperation, not out of necessity.
It also doesn’t help to have closing credits feature all of the recent national financial disasters in our country while Rage Against the Machine blasts in the background. Didn’t they realize people usually stick around for the credits because something FUNNY is in there? Was this movie about averting a major financial investment disaster or two unlikely lead characters becoming top cops? In the end, that question is what prevented me from thinking this was a comedy all along.
Come to think of it, the movie poster doesn’t even make sense either. Did the designer think this was a kung-fu cop movie? WTF?
You’ll need about 2 beers to get through the first 45 minutes, then take your time heading to the john, then sneak into a different theater to see something else.