Sunday, August 8, 2010

Box Office Review – The Other Guys

It is said that movies often come in twos. Think Volcano, and Dante's Peak. Armageddon, and Deep Impact. A Bugs Life, and Antz. Now in 2010 a pair of buddy cop movies have been released the first being Cop Out back in February, and now we have The Other Guys.

It's weird to me that buddy cop movies have been getting the spoof treatment as of late. All buddy cop films that I can think of are very funny in their own right, so having two movies in one year that take a tongue in cheek approach the genre is strange to me. The Other Guys just like Cop Out isn't a very good buddy cop film. If you are looking for a fun recent buddy cop film, check out 2007's Hot Fuzz. While The Other Guys fails to be a good buddy cop film it doesn't fail at being a solid comedy.

Adam Mackay has directed three previous films all with Will Ferrell in the lead role. I think that The Other Guys is their best since their first film together, Anchorman. The Other Guys pairs Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as unlikely partners. Wahlberg is a cop trying to advance his career after an unfortunate accident. Ferrell is the cop who is more comfortable behind a desk then out on the street. Together they make a good pair. Will Ferrell does what he does in every movie, but he is more restrained then usual so his performance feels fresh. Mark Wahlberg shows that he is as good at doing comedy as he was at modeling Calvin Klein. It's good that the two main actors in the film give good performances because the story leaves a bit to be desired.

It has been two days since I saw this movie and I can't recall the story. Will Ferrell is investigating a scaffolding permit violation and this is the catalyst for the story. That is all I can recall. Everything else is just a blur to me. I know that I laughed a fair bit, and that is why I liked the movie. I don't like that the story was so uninteresting that I can't remember it. There are a fair number of memorable lines in The Other Guys, and for a Mackay/Ferrell comedy I believe that means mission accomplished.

A Good Banana



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