The Other Guys

(2010)

Dir: Adam McKay

You either love Will Ferrell or you hate him. That seems to be the way things have gone for the former Saturday Night Live funny man. Does he play essentially the same outlandish characters? You bet. Here’s the million dollar question: are these characters actually funny? Well, I’d have to say yes.

Call me an idiot; call me childish, I don’t really care. I can appreciate all brands of comedy, from the sophisticated to the silly - although Scary Movie is pushing it. Ferrell just tickles my boyish funny bone, and in The Other Guys, Adam McKay’s take on a buddy cop flick, he does it again.

Ferrell’s leading performances are often defined by his co-star. In Anchorman he has a Christina Applegate, in Talladega Nights he has John C. Reilly, and in Blades of Glory he has John Heder. Just like these others, in The Other Guys Mark Wahlberg is playing the straight man. His sensible act bounces off Ferrell’s eccentricities. Anyone familiar with Marky Mark’s work, from Boogie Nights to The Departed, knows he can do a damn good job of playing it straight and making it amusing at the same time. His exasperated Detective Terry Holtz is where most of the films humour lies, with his reactions mirroring our own to the bizarreness of Ferrell’s Detective Allen Gamble.

The plot is nonsense. Absolute nonsense. I have no idea what Steve Coogan’s slimy business Brit was supposedly up to, but it seemed to involve stealing money from the Lottery, so make of that what you will. It really is complete tosh.

Thankfully, the film is all about Ferrell and Wahlberg, and their chemistry is good enough to carry The Other Guys to a satisfactory conclusion. Also, I’m unlikely to complain too much about a film with Eva Mendes in it. Goddamn.

*** / *****

“Will stays classy, San Diego.”