Cinema Verdict Review: The Other Guys

Aaron Thomas | 9 August 2010 | At the Movies, Reviews

The Other Guys

OPENING: 08/06/2010

STUDIO: Columbia Pictures

RUN TIME: 107 min

ACCOMPLICES:

The Charge
They’re not heroes — they’re The Other Guys.

Opening Statement
The buddy-cop subgenre is firmly in the sights of director Adam McKay and frequent collaborator Will Ferrell in their new movie, The Other Guys, and while it might not match the heights of absurdity achieved in Anchorman, the pair’s first and perhaps finest cinematic effort, it still stands tall as one of this summer’s funniest entertainments.

Facts of the Case
The two most respected and recognized detectives in New York City are P.K. Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Chris Danson (Dwayne Johnson); having earned their heroic reputations by kicking ass and taking names, destoying millions of dollars in property to nab their perps and getting their names in the press. These preening showhogs bask in the glory while their colleagues, such as forensic accountant Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and hot-headed Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), are left with the reality of doing the paperwork. Meek Allen is happy to maintain this arrangement, but Terry, who has been stuck behind a desk since an infamous incident involving Derek Jeter, lusts to get back on the street, ready for action. After Detectives Highsmith and Danson are unexpectedly indisposed, Allen and Terry find their chance to fill the void when a seemingly innocuous lead from Allen’s file threatens to become the NYPD’s hottest case.

The Evidence
The highest compliment I can pay The Other Guys is that it’s funny, which is more than can be said for many of the so-called “comedies” released these days. The opening chase featuring Highsmith and Danson is outrageously over-the-top, and the contrast when we are introduced to the deskbound world of Allen and Terry perfectly establishes the tone of this parody: the juxtaposing and exploring the inherent absurdity of the buddy-cop movie through the lens of the mundane.

This tonal balance, which admittedly walks a thin line, is best maintained in the first act. The daily harassment of Allen by fellow officers Martin (The Daily Show’s Rob Riggle) and Fosse (Damon Wayans Jr.), the seething anger Terry holds against Allen for his unwillingness to go out on calls, Allen and Terry conducting police business while riding in a Prius — these elements, while greatly exaggerated, are built around grains of realism. These hints of truth enhance the humor by grounding the situations for the audience, allowing for greater shocks at the lengths to which these sketches extend for a laugh; when the rift between Allen and Terry explodes into an argument over combat strategies in the animal kingdom, it may well be one of the most riotous exchanges you’ll hear this year.

But after Highsmith and Danson are sidelined, things begin to falter a bit. The film becomes more focused with its ripped-from-the-headlines scandal plot involving a fraudulent investor (Steve Coogan of Tropic Thunder), which unfortunately adheres too rigidly to the formula it is parodying and is largely uninteresting. Events become predictable and expected, as do a fair number of the jokes. It is arguable that a stronger version of the film would have avoided getting its unsung heroes into the ridiculous predicaments this plot requires, instead focusing entirely on the trials and tribulations of everyday policework in the shadow of the larger-than-life heroes as the anti-buddy cop movie. But The Other Guys isn’t that film, and Ferrell and Wahlberg get into trouble with authority, play “good cop, bad cop,” and hide out from the bad guys to await the final confrontation. In particular, the scenes where an office they hope to investigate explodes and when the two attempt to talk a witness down from a high ledge stand out as two of the film’s low points.

What saves the film from failure is both Ferrell’s innate likability and the moments when it embraces the surreal: Allen’s dismissal of his curvaceous wife (Eva Mendes) as “plain,” the second job held by Michael Keaton’s police captain, a character’s dark collegiate history, and a description of what befalls the aforementioned Prius that is so foul that you will never again hear the phrase “soup kitchen” in quite the same way. These jewels are stark reminders of the hilarious and bizarre alternate universe that McKay and Ferrell created in 2004′s Anchorman, while also cutting through the detritus of the well-worn plot, recalling the freshness of the first act. They keep it afloat, carrying the film past its plodded mechanizations and over the finish line. If the entire film were infused with this boldness, it would flirt with greatness, but as is it provides merely an entertaining ride.

Closing Statement
Despite failing to overcome the formula of the buddy-cop movies it parodies, The Other Guys is bolstered by a fresh first act and enough moments of glittering comedic brilliance throughout to ensure that you will be entertained. Watch it, laugh, and hope that in the future its creators will be given enough free reign to once again give us something extraordinary.

The Verdict
7/10