Reviewed by Kate Rodger
Mark Wahlberg (The Departed/The Lovely Bones) has had a hankering to do a comedy for some time, and when Anchorman team Adam McKay and Will Ferrell took him for dinner and asked him to star in their new movie, Wahlberg didn’t even ask to see the script.
The Other Guys is the kind of comedy we’ve come to expect from Ferrell, and while this is nowhere near in the league of Anchorman, one of my favourite comedies ever, there are enough laughs here to justify the ticket price.
Wahlberg is Terry, a not too bright but strangely ambitious New York detective. He has been partnered up with Allan, a lame, geeky Prius-driving desk-jockey cop. They’re overshadowed by pretty much every other cop in their precinct. Then one day, the city’s two super-cops, Highsmith (Samuel L Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson), fall in the line of duty, and ‘The Other Guys’ are forced to step up, and make a difference.
The pair then stumbles upon the city’s biggest crime, and all sorts of cops and robbers shenanigans erupt.
Eva Mendes (Hitch/We Own the Night) is cast as Ferrell’s ridiculously hot wife Sheila in a comedy gag which runs through the entire film. Allen somehow has a magical effect on women everywhere, and Sheila is no exception.
The running gags in this film can wear a bit thin after a while, kind of funny for the first hour, but not getting a rise out of me towards the end. The edit knife could easily have been taken to trim the mid-section here, which would have streamlined the story and the laughs, and kept the pace up.
But there are a few serious belly-laughs to be had here. The Prius suffers many an indignity which no Prius should ever have to endure, and the early scenes with Mendes, Wahlberg and Ferrell are pretty funny.
The Other Guys will appeal more to the blokes, but if girlfriends/wives/dates/partners are dragged along for the ride don’t be too afraid, you might find you quite enjoy yourselves.
Three and a half stars.
The Other Guys
:: Director: Adam McKay
:: Starring:Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, Lindsay Sloane, Paris Hilton, Anne Heche
:: Running Time: 107 mins
:: Rating: M - contains violence and sexual references
:: Release Date: September 30, 2010
