The Kidd Vs. The Other Guys
CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD
The Kidd isn’t a big Will Ferrell fan. I’ve really enjoyed him in a few movies – OLD SCHOOL, ELF, and, on a more serious note, STRANGER THAN FICTION. But, when it comes to his comedies, particularly when he pairs up with writer/director/producer Adam McKay, it always feels as if I’m watching Ferrell play the exact same character type, only in a different setting. THE OTHER GUYS is no different. Let the record show though that I don’t find ANCHORMAN funny… like at all. In fact, I find it to be incredibly overrated, and, when people proclaim its greatness to me, I begin wondering just how drunk they are at that very moment. TALLADEGA NIGHTS was a slight improvement, and this is coming from someone who hates NASCAR with a passion. Strangely enough, STEP BROTHERS, the one film of theirs that always seems to get overlooked, is The Kidd’s absolute favorite of their collaborations. I can walk around all day talking about the fuckin’ Catalina Wine Mixer, while gently caressing my luscious V from my chest pubes down to my ball ‘fro, with that film on my mind. And, because of STEP BROTHERS, I have been willing to give a fair shake to any Ferrell/McKay picture, hoping that they can duplicate not necessarily the success of STEP BROTHERS, but the pure hilarity the film has. That’s what I was hoping for THE OTHER GUYS, and, while Mark Wahlberg was able to hold his own as the more serious partner to Ferrell, they just couldn’t pull it off on the consistently high level I was looking for.
Now look… that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to enjoy in THE OTHER GUYS, and you are sure to get quite a few really hard laughs out of the film. If you’re a fan of the other Will Ferrell movies, then this one will play right up to your sense of humor. However, I found my laughs decreasing a great deal as the film progressed deeper, going from strong belly laughs to chuckles to smirks over the course of film, and it’s because watching Ferrell and Wahlberg go back and forth for a couple of hours is downright exhausting. The improvisational style that accompanies a McKay allows for the actors to keep riffing with each other constantly to the point it almost feels that because Ferrell and Wahlberg created a joke in a particular scene, they have the right to kill it and bury it with a shovel by the time the scene ends. How else do you explain a nearly 5-minute diatribe on a showdown between tuna and a lion that goes on for about 4 minutes and 32 seconds too long?
THE OTHER GUYS sets up Ferrell and Wahlberg as the usual mismatched police partners, forced to work together through their differences, in order to solve a big case that never feels quite that big. In fact, you never get a real sense as to what the plot of THE OTHER GUYS until the last 20 minutes or so, and, even then, the story is so paper thin that it doesn’t matter. THE OTHER GUYS isn’t set up to tell a story; it’s set up for you to watch the interaction of the odd couple one more time with Ferrell playing Felix to Wahlberg’s Oscar. There’s some business about an investment banker who’s been losing money for the various partners he’s gotten involved with, having to cook the books until he can find another sucker to hand their money over to him, so he can cover his other losses, but the film hopes that the very idea of dirty guy caught in the middle of some bad economic dealings during the current economy will be enough, and it isn’t. Therefore, your enjoyment of THE OTHER GUYS rests completely on what’s on the film’s surface, because skin deep is about as far down as you’re going to go with the premise of THE OTHER GUYS.
Ferrell plays Allen Gamble, a desk jockey who transferred to his current department after a few years as a forensic accountant. He loves paperwork, but, more importantly, he loves a nice stabile and safe environment that won’t put himself at risk, enabling him to get home to his hot wife (the stunning Eva Mendes) with no problems. Of course he’s paired up with his complete opposite, with Wahlberg as Terry Hoitz, a detective that is always looking for some action, as he tries to escape an unfortunate accident from his career’s past (shooting Derek Jeter prior to Game 7 of the World Series, costing the Yankees the championship). Their routine works for awhile, but, by the 3rd act, when THE OTHER GUYS becomes begrudgingly slow in its pace, it’s worn out its welcome. Seeing the Little River Band get cranked up in a speeding Prius to get the fellas pumped for a call is hilarious the first time it happens… the third or fourth, not so much. And don’t even get me started on Gamble’s backstory, which is thrown in to snag some cheap laughs and winds up being a well they go back to far too often, an unfortunate decision since it’s not all that funny an idea to begin with.
THE OTHER GUYS really works when it parodies the buddy cop genre by playing up the various cliches we’ve come to expect in movie after movie – slow motion gun fights, a Captain’s demotion, sad saxophone musical cues upon dramatic moments, etc. The narration of Ice-T is a nice touch, and the opening sequence with Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock as the heroic cops that make it look awesome causing $12 million in property damage just to bring in some perps on a misdemeanor drug charge starts THE OTHER GUYS in a major ass-kicking way. But that momentum eventually erodes over the course of THE OTHER GUYS. In retrospect, I found Jackson and The Rock to be far more interesting and entertaining in their short bursts than Ferrell and Wahlberg, and it almost makes me wish we could have seen a movie built around their cool-as-hell overhyped police personalities. It probably would have played like BAD BOYS, but with much better actors, but it would have been a risk worth taking for something a lot funnier than what we get in THE OTHER GUYS.
And that’s a bit of an unfair dig at the movie, because I think there is plenty to like here… the movie just runs out of gas, chugging along on fumes by the end. The Rock and Samuel L. Jackson are absolutely priceless form the moment they get THE OTHER GUYS started to their very memorable final scene. It was also nice to see Michael Keaton flexing some of his comedy muscles as Captain Mauch, a sight we haven’t seen in quite some time, probably dating all the way back to MULTIPLICITY in 1996. Keaton proves that he’s still got it, but, in the familiar style of the movie, the jokes set up with his character find themselves 6 feet under by the end of the movie. I mean, seriously… how many TLC lyrics can they really run out there before that punchline isn’t funny anymore?
Steve Coogan and Ray Stevenson are wasted here, as there is absolutely no weight given to the villain portion of the case Gamble and Hoitz are working. As a result, their characters just pop in and out, without much explanation as to their true value in the grand scheme of things, that, by the time THE OTHER GUYS tries to cram some reason for the whole story into the movie just so it can say it has some semblance of a plot, you don’t care one way or the other. The movie isn’t about the plot or the story or the crime. It’s about Ferrell and Wahlberg working together, and, if you find their interactions entertaining, then THE OTHER GUYS is sure to make for a good time at the movies for you. That’s where I was headed for at least the first half of the movie… and then it just all fell apart for me the closer we got to the end.
Adam McKay has another one of his typical Ferrell movies on his hands here, although I will say with the action (gun fights, car chases, etc.) involved in THE OTHER GUYS, this is probably his best-looking film. However, it might also be the one that’s the least successful when it comes to him allowing his characters the freedom to play and run wild loosely with the script. The dialogue seems to wander a great deal into the realm of complete and total randomness at times between Gamble and Hoitz, and it’s not for the betterment of the movie. It actually drags THE OTHER GUYS down to have Ferrell and Wahlberg endlessly volleying back and forth, leaving you with feelings that are more “When is this going to end?” than “This is really funny.” When you want them to stop rather than keep going… that’s never a good sign.
If I had to rank the previous Ferrell/McKay comedies, it’d probably be STEP BROTHERS, TALLADEGA NIGHTS, and then ANCHORMAN. I’d place THE OTHER GUYS probably slightly beneath TALLADEGA NIGHTS, with major points scored by seeing Marky Mark in the comedic element we don’t get to see him involved with often enough, but major points taken away by the fact that some parts of the film are literally like beating a dead horse. I do think there are some solid laughs to be had with THE OTHER GUYS, and, if the movie had just halted about halfway through, it would have been a far better film in such an abbreviated form. The full length ends up being a slightly above-average comedy. You will find yourself having a good time through most of it, which I guess is more than you can say for some other movies out there right now. I just wish it would have capitalized on its potential, and delivered a better movie. It could have been better… but it could also have been worse. So take that for what it’s worth. Will Ferrell fans should enjoy themselves, because THE OTHER GUYS is more of the same of what you already like.
