The Other Guys (Unrated)

Great movie. Both Will and Mark are perfect in their roles, and play off each other wonderfully. I watch this over and over. It’s hilarious.

This is a great movie! If you like Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell , and you want to laugh, then spend an hour or so watching this movie!

Funny movie, great for the collection. I would purchase again, and would recommend my family. This is a go to movie when I need an action comedy.

Great quality

I don't think I'm saying anything terribly controversial or original when I state that Will Farrell movies tend to be a mixed bag. His most beloved star vehicles TALLEDEGA NIGHTS and ANCHORMAN, feature many truly hilarious moments, but also moments that just seem a bit weird and random. Farrell and his friend/co-writer/director Adam McKay just can't seem to stop taking diversions that are little more than whims. Sometimes these random moments have a life and excitement of their own (Ron Burgundy playing the flute in a restaurant), others are simply head-scratchers. It's a measure of how expensive THE OTHER GUYS must have been to make when I thought of how few of these quirky diversions Farrell takes. McKay & Co. have made a more straightforward comedy, one relying heavily on expensive action sequences...and thus must have felt a bit more constrained to sticking with a linear plot and not a series of sketches held together with a theme. But it's also a measure of Farrell's talent that the film still feels fresh and offbeat. Farrell plays a police detective who is really just an accountant with a badge and gun. He works his desk and hums while typing on his keyboard. He loves to see others running to where the action is...and loves staying safely at his desk. He'd probably be happy doing this his entire career, except that he's also got a VERY reluctant partner (Mark Wahlberg)...a once up-and-coming hotshot cop who accidentally put a bullet into Derek Jeter, costing the Yankees a World Series. Wahlberg urgently wants to get back on the streets...and when NYPD loses two of its most famous cops (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson)...his desperate need reaches a boiling point, and he DRAGS Farrell out into the field. Unfortunately, Farrell's vehicle is a Prius, and it's very non-threatening profile generates some pretty funny wisecracks. ("I literally feel like I'm riding inside a vagina," says Wahlberg.) It is very amusing to see Wahlberg making fun of his usual intensity. Imagine his character in THE DEPARTED almost totally neutered by a career blunder. He's got good timing, and creates genuine chemistry with Farrell. Eva Mendes is welcome as Farrell's wife...she's WAY too hot to be married to Farrell, yet Farrell's character seems to draw hot women to him. It's so non-sensical as to be quite funny...particularly in the way it perplexes Wahlberg. Mendes, in many films, consistently shows flashes of having some nice comic ability, but has yet to be truly challenged. THE OTHER GUYS doesn't challenge her either...her character is more of a device than a real person. There are other nice supporting turns. Steve Coogan is always nice to see. Michael Keaton has a thankless role as the captain...but still gets off a few nice one-liners. Jackson & Johnson are hilarious (and their early scenes spoofing car chases and the mayhem they cause are pretty impressive). I must say, though, that I'd gladly never see Rob Riggle in a film again. Here and in THE HANGOVER, he plays obnoxious, toxic cops to virtually no comic effect. He's loud and amused with himself. But the film belongs to Farrell. He once again brings his character who is outwardly calm but clearly seething with repressed emotions. But Farrell has dug just a little bit deeper here. He's tried to bring logic to his character, rather than simply serving comic needs. The turmoil he is roiling with seems genuine. I gather from interviews and such that Farrell is a fairly happy family man. But he also encapsulates what a lot of people feel, I think..the feeling of being trapped in a life that isn't entirely what one imagined when setting out in the world. He carries an inchoate rage. In Farrell's hands, this is mined for humor...but you can also imagine how quickly it could be mined for drama. He's a master at teetering between out-of-control and dangerously out-of-control. There are a couple of Farrell & McKay's patented "random" moments. While drinking with Wahlberg in an Irish pub, Farrell frequently stops mid-conversation to sing verses in sad Irish songs while accompanied by an older chorus of Irish men. It's odd but somehow charming. But the film has many sustained jokes that continue to pay off. Coogan (as a Wall Street bad-guy) keeps putting off tough questioning by offering Farrell & Wahlberg tickets to Broadway shows. They accept and then beat themselves up later when they realize they've been bribed. I laughed a lot. That's ultimately they key to my recommendation. But I certainly appreciate the fact that the filmmakers realized they had a good concept and gave it some meat. Farrell was allowed to create a fully realized comic creation, and was given a stellar supporting cast. Wahlberg was probably the best possible choice to play the partner...and although I hope it doesn't happen I can certainly envision a sequel.

I am normally not a fan of Ferrell comedy movies. But despite the reluctant first watch, I discovered it is a well crafted movie hiding in inanity.

Good movie

Funny movie, first time seeing it. Ferrell and Wahlberg make a good team!