The Other Guys

Year: 2010

Writer: Adam Mckay, Chris Henchy

Director: Adam Mckay

Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Samuel L Jackson, Steve Coogan and Dwayne Johnson.

Plot: Misfit detectives Gamble and Hoitz are sentenced to life behind a desk. They hate each other and the monotony of their meaningless jobs, as they are forced to live in the shadow of the two most badass cops on the force (Jackson and Johnson). But when those guys kick the bucket, opportunity knocks for Gamble and Hoitz. Stumbling onto what could be one of the biggest crimes in years, can The Other Guys step up their game to solve the case without killing each other and destroying NYC in the process.

This movie is just plain stupid with a couple of witty scenes thrown in there occasionally. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Will Ferrell and I cannot stand Steve Coogan, but despite this I added this movie to my Lovefilm list because it looked funny in the trailer (rookie mistake!) and I was fascinated by the idea of Mark Wahlberg taking on a more comedic role after the serious award baiting fare of The Fighter and The Departed.  The fact is if it wasn't for Mark Wahlberg, I would have turned this movie off after the first 30 mins. He is brilliant in it!

The film starts off promising with two very entertaining cameos from Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson, as they rampage through NYC chasing criminals and destroying the city in the process. This starts off looking like it could be a great parody on the Lethal Weapon movies, but once Will Ferrell comes into the picture, all originiallity goes out the window. You can tell that Ferrell has been given free reign to improvise and most of the time it just doesn't work.

As previously mentioned the real stand out here is Mark Wahlberg. His comedic timing is impeccable and the scene where he is first introduced to Eva Mendes as Will Ferrell's smoking hot wife is one of the best scenes in it. Wahlberg struggles to comprehend quite how Ferrell married this woman and then very obviously hits  on her for the rest of the evening. The movie is also worth a watch just to see Michael Keaton back in a main role and he is great.

I have to say I was really disapointed with this film. I expected a lot from the trailer and obviously that is where all the best jokes are. They could have made this a very witty parody on Lethal Weapon and you can tell that they are aiming for this in parts, particularly with the way saxophone music plays over every male bonding moment. But this little in joke is about as far as they get with it.

If you love Will Ferrell you will probably find this hilarious, but if not, this is probably one to watch on a Friday night when you have had a few drinks and are not looking for anything too taxing. I give it 3.5 out of 5!