Review:
Will Ferrell has redeemed himself from his role in last summers bomb Land of the Lost with The Other Guys. This is one of my favorite Ferrell movies aside from Step Brothers and Anchorman. This movie will have you quoting some classic one liners courtesy of Ferrell. All in all this is a great action comedy film that is perfect summer fun! Adam McKay has a long line of successes with Will Ferrell and The Other Guys is no exception. Their teaming began with Anchorman and they have worked together on some of his better work. Their side project, Funny Or Die is also just as hilarious at times. So the smart money is always on Ferrell and McKay to produce hilarious material.
The plot is not mind blowing nor does it even remotely explore new ground. The film follows two detectives that are polar opposites played by Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg who stumble onto conspiracy and have to save the day. The funny part is how they go about doing it. There are just too many scenes that had me laughing my ass off throughout this movie. Ferrell and Wahlberg are great together on screen. It is good to see Wahlberg in a comedic role and is a nice change of pace from his recent work. I think they played well off of each other and there are some very humorous and memorable scenes because of it.
This movie works, as do most of Ferrell’s films because of the use of other great supporting actors. The supporting cast includes Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Steve Coogan and Michael Keaton. Johnson and Jackson play the Alpha Male cops that are the golden boys of the force, hence the name of the film, The Other Guys. They do not have a large amount of screen time but there is certainly a few comedic gems that are present in the film because of them. Michael Keaton really surprised me as Captain Gene with his comedic ability. There is a running gag in the film with him unknowingly using TLC references that is pretty funny.
I liked Eva Mendes in this movie because of the fact that I did not buy her chemistry with Ferrell. That is actually one of the points of her role, unlike most movies where you want a husband and wife to actually have chemistry there is not really any between these two. There is however, great comedic timing that works well between them.
There have been many buddy cop movies, some good and some bad. I think that The Other Guys is one of the better films that I have seen. Will Ferrell has a perfect ability to deliver lines and great comedic timing which his fans love and come to expect. What I love about him is his ability to be calm one moment and then go off the deep end the next. A prime example is the scene where he does Bad Cop Bad Cop after misunderstanding Wahlberg’s character. His films are also intermixed with small bits that are funny for a short moment but in that moment they are golden and result in serious laughter.
The Bottom Line:
The cast is what really makes this movie great and Will Ferrell’s ability to deliver lines in a serious way but one that is completely hilarious. I think this is really one of the better Will Ferrell films I have seen in a while, actually since Step Brothers. I think this film will have you laughing so hard you will have stomach pains after the movie. This is one movie that you should see in theaters and be sure to stick around after the credits. I am excited to see the Unrated DVD version when it is released.
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