Review: The Other Guys (2010)

Director Adam Mckay and Will Ferrell have returned to the big screen in The Other Guys. The film stars Terry Holtz (Mark Wahlberg) and Allen Gamble (Ferrell) as two pencil-pushing odd couple office cops who are growing more and more tired of filling out action cops' paperwork and are ready for some of the excitement. When superstar officers Christopher Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and P.K. Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) die in hot pursuit, it's Terry and Allen's turn to step up to the plate as New York's top cops. Mckay and Ferrell have been integrating since 1995 on Saturday Night Live. In more recent years audiences have applauded Mckay/Ferrell projects such as Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers. One thing that is very clear about these films is that viewers either love them or hate them. The Other Guys, like Mckay's other flicks, gives the audience a chance to stop stressing about work, bills, and life. It gives the audience a chance to laugh at the simple things, like a gang of hobos having an orgy in a Prius (don't ask, just watch). Upon seating one's self at the cinema, one must discern that they aren't awaiting a showing of Casablanca. This is a farcically unrealistic film with a humorously been there done that plot, however it's okay considering the director and actors know it. Ferrell's antics are a riot as always and Wahlberg's intentional over-acting remains amusing throughout. The film touches that part of you deep down that wants to brake all the rules and conquer the day with a buddy cop. Though too silly for some, for this viewer The Other Guys pleases the mind and under stays its welcome at 107 minutes, earning it a well-deserved 3 stars.