Will Ferrell has been known to do some wacky things in his movies. And his performance in the “The Other Guys” is no exception.
Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star as NYC detectives, and partners, who are at the bottom of their department. Ferrell’s character, Allen, doesn’t like being on the street where the action is and Wahlberg’s Terry loves action, but is being punished because he once shot a famous sports star (I don’t want to give too much away).
After the two top detectives in the department can no longer do their jobs, Allen and Terry decide to step-it-up and prove to everyone that they can be heroes by solving the big case.
In all Will Ferrell comedies, a lot of jokes and gags are thrown at the audience. Some work and some don’t. The good news is most of them in “The Other Guys” work. The movie is unpredictable and very funny. The dialogue is clever and there are some classic scenes and situations.
You know Ferrell’s going to get laughs but the big surprise is Wahlberg who is great in his first starring role in a comedy. And the rest of the cast fits right in. Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes are all part of the supporting cast and they all do a good job playing their slightly weird characters. In fact there really isn’t a normal character in the entire movie.
One of the problems with the film is that it’s a bit too long (1:50) and some of the scenes drag-on. A final edit would have helped.
“The Other Guys” is rated PG-13 for action-violence, adult language and subject matter. It’s appropriate for the teen and above crowd. Fans of Ferrell and cop buddy films won’t be disappointed.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “The Other Guys” gets a B. It’s the funniest movie of the summer, in a year without a lot of summer comedies.
Ferrell next plays the voice of the title character in Dreamwork’s animated, “Megamind.” Let’s hope he can go 2 for 2 in 2010, but, unfortunately, “Megamind” doesn’t look too promising.