The Other Guys: (August 6th, 2010): PG-13
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #1 with $35,600,000
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $69,951,822
Gross Revenue: $70,543,000
Budget: $100 million
Director: Adam McKay
Perhaps the definitive launching pad for The Other Guys marketing campaign occurred at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, where Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg bickered as they were lowered into the audience on stunt harnesses. From that point on, the trailer was everywhere, and both leads made appearances across all kinds of different networks, from the expected Comedy Central weekend marathons to the surprising advanced screenings featured on NBC’s America’s Got Talent and CBS’ Big Brother. To be honest, both Ferrell and Wahlberg needed The Other Guys to be a success; Ferrell was still recovering from the backlash of last summer’s ill-advised Land of the Lost, while Wahlberg has suffered from a recent string of disappointments, such as The Happening, Max Payne, and The Lovely Bones. Apparently, Wahlberg consults a family priest for guidance before he takes any role, so even though he’s been in some great movies (The Departed, Shooter, Four Brothers, Invincible, The Italian Job…etc.), it seems like some of his recent guidance has been pretty weak. Fortunately, The Other Guys reunites Will Ferrell with writer/director/producer Adam McKay, the team behind Ferrell’s classics Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers (McKay was only a producer on Land of the Lost), so it seems like this buddy-cop comedy was more than enough to get both actors back on track.
Ferrell and Wahlberg play NYPD Detectives and partners Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz; Gamble is a timid paper-pusher who was recently promoted from forensic accounting, while Hoitz is a hot-headed action junky whose career was sidelined by an unfortunate incident with Yankee Derek Jeter. Gamble and Hoitz are constantly over-shadowed by star cops Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson), but after this team’s abrupt departure from the force, Hoitz sees his opportunity to climb up from the bottom of the barrel. In his words: “I’m a peacock, you gotta let me fly!” Through sheer luck, Gamble and Hoitz stumble upon financial fraud and white-collar criminal David Ershon (the always funny Steve Coogan), so these two dramatically different personalities must work together to solve this crime without turning on each other. The end-result is nothing short of comedic gold.
To call The Other Guys funny would be a dramatic understatement…it’s nothing short of hysterical. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are an excellent comedic team, as their opposing personalities pave the way for some awkward situations (Hoitz’s reaction to Gamble’s attractive wife, played by Eva Mendes, is priceless) and some awesome arguments…who exactly would win in a fight between a lion and a tuna? Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson’s appearance in the film, though brief, is instantly memorable, and the large number of celebrity cameos is more than welcome, whether it involves Ice-T as the narrator (who, of course, plays a detective on Law and Order: SVU), or the celebs that Gamble and Hoitz rub elbows with at a Knicks game…watching Brooke Shields hit on Will Ferrell is way funnier than you think it would be. Between the ridiculously absurd conversations riddled with ad-libbed dialogue and the over-the-top freak outs that are classic Will Ferrell, there are plenty of humorous situations that audiences will remember for quite some time. Where the appeal for Dinner for Schmucks was limited to fans of Steve Carell, I believe that a far larger audience will find something to enjoy in The Other Guys.
My positive review for The Other Guys is a sharp contrast from my initial reaction to the film, as I left the theater far more confused than I thought was necessary for a comedy. The actual white-collar crime depicted in the film is so complicated that I doubt most audiences could follow it; thank god I saw the movie with a CPA student. And though white-collar crime isn’t the main point of the film, the ending credits are so blatantly political that you can’t help but question whether The Other Guys was trying to be a serious film. Now, ridiculous situations are a given for any Ferrell/McKay collaboration, but if this was meant to be a semi-serious cop film on any level, some of these situations and dialogue just seem unnecessary and insulting to story development; if you want to spoof the buddy-cop genre, you can’t try and deliver political commentary or overly-complicated plot elements. Another criticism has to do with Ferrell himself, as the timid Allen Gamble is by far the weakest of any of Ferrell’s characters; the equally aggressive Ron Burgundy (Anchorman), Ricky Bobby (Talladega), and Brennan Huff (Step Brothers) all helped make Ferrell a superstar, so why would he abandon a formula that has proved so successful in the past? Only when Gamble becomes irritated or over-reacts is he funny, so any departure from this demeanor in the narrative is disappointing. Beyond this criticism, some of the jokes and acting come off as more stupid than clever, but when weighed against the overall level of comedy and the combined appeal of Ferrell and Wahlberg, any weakness present is easily forgiven.
With $35.6 million its opening weekend, The Other Guys has the distinction of being the film to dethrone Inception from the top of the box-office. Given the positive reaction from both critics and audiences alike, I expect The Other Guys to continue to perform strongly against its surprisingly large budget of $100 million, but with both The Expendables and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World coming out next weekend, it might be a little much to expect this comedy to stay on top for a second weekend. With the high level of star power and memorable humor present, The Other Guys’ appeal is through the roof, and though it isn’t perfect (the weak and confusing story is hard to look past), fans of Ferrell and Wahlberg still owe it to themselves to see this film.
Overall Recommendation: High
