The Other Guys

Directed by: Adam McKay

Written by: Adam McKay, Chris Henchy

There's something downright alluring about the buddy-cop genre of film, whether it's being played straight as an action movie or being parodied as a comedy. Hollywood has used this archetype numerous times over the last few decades, altering it only slightly, while never quite reaching the idealistic peak for which they shoot.

"The Other Guys" follows a typical plot-arc for a buddy-cop film: Two seemingly mismatched cops accidentally uncover a massive criminal plot. In this case, the plot is a Madoff-style ponzi scheme which involves both the mob and the police pension plans. Chaos and hilarity ensue.

One of the problems with "The Other Guys" is that it fails to escape the gravity of influence of every other buddy-cop movie. When compared to other recent additions to the genre - "Cop Out" and "Hot Fuzz" - it's hard to see what the difference between the three films is (aside from the fact that "Hot Fuzz" was British). The same problem applies to Will Ferrell's performance - it's hard to differentiate between his character in this film and in most of his other films.

That being said, "The Other Guys" is pretty funny, but that humor is unbalanced. The jokes dramatically shift from slapstick silliness (the "bribery" scene) to more cerebral meta-humor (the running gag of Michael Keaton unknowingly quoting TLC songs). Mark Walberg's character is uneven and randomly morphs from the classic straight-man to a mindless gag and back again at the whim of the script. For example, when he is in the car with Ferrell he plays his part completely seriously with a bit of synicism, but mere moments later when he is having dinner at Ferrell's house he is reduced to a bumbling idiot when trying to talk to Ferrell's wife (played by Eva Mendes). I thought the scenes with Mendes were great, but the total shift in character made for a lot of dissonance, which is hard to take in a comedy that is already asking the viewer to suspend their disbelief beyond most films.

One highlight of the movie is the early use of Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson but forever known as The Rock) as walking parodies of macho man cops that often appear in more serious cop films. Both actors play their parts with such absolute seriousness which is repeatedly turned on its head with moments of complete absurdity. Both players over-act to the point of humor without giving a hint of self-consciousness, which allows their scenes to play both as action sequences and parodies of action sequences.

I appreciated and enjoyed "The Other Guys," but it's hard to recommend it over any other buddy-cop type of comedy. (Except maybe "Cop Out," though I think that speaks more to the weakness of "Cop Out" more than anything else. Sorry Kevin Smith.)