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Will
Ferrell is a comedian creating his own genre. His all-too convincing
portrayals of hilarious lummoxes have become his signature and no other
actor today does it quite as successfully. It’s gotten so he can place
these dunces into any comedy screenplay and make it work, even in a
premise as outwardly scant as that of cop movie spoof, The Other Guys.
However for all Ferrell’s unmistakable input, The Other Guys has its
own appeal; namely in a bawdy, silly script that’s laced with an urbane
sharpness that keeps it hip and surprisingly funny, and an
up-for-anything cast that’s having as much fun as their audience.
In a
guns and blazes opening sequence Jerry Bruckheimer would envy, we’re
introduced to New York’s bravest and boldest; Highsmith and Danson, two
super detectives who are precisely the stuff of 1980’s cop action films
with inflated egos to match their heedless heroism. Everyone in their
squad has to be content to bask in their glory even if that means doing
their paperwork; an arrangement that works out just fine for Detective
Allen Gamble, a forensics accountant moved up to the big leagues and
given a gold badge. He is overjoyed to stay as far from the action as
possible and carefully fill out forms. This is not the case for his
partner, Detective Terry Hoitz, who’s been chained to his desk and
christened the Yankee Clipper since an unfortunate incident at the Bronx
baseball stadium involving a bat, a gun, and a certain player’s failure
to identify himself. When one act of fearlessness goes a bit too far,
the entire precinct has the opportunity to grab the spotlight as the
next Highsmith and Danson, and Hoitz knows replacing the legendary
officers on a big name case is the only thing that might erase the stain
of his infamy. The trouble is his booksmart partner has no desire at
all to leave the safety of his desk. Not letting a little thing like
free will get in the way, Hoitz proceeds to humiliate, cajole and
finally threaten Gamble’s life to join him on cases the two have no
business pursuing. As to be expected of a cop who’s never been out of
the precinct, carries a wooden gun and drives a Prius; Gamble is
severely unprepared for anything deadlier than a crossing guard
assignment and every mission the two undertake goes wrong. These are
not the guys to foil some convoluted crime full of international
financial espionage, kidnapping and murder … or are they?
Don’t
even ask about the plot; it’s a classic MacGuffin that will only spoil
the fun if you think about it too long. The Other Guys is a send-up of
classic testosterone-driven police actioners like Lethal Weapon and Bad
Boys, crossed with a Zucker Brothers off-the-wall zaniness. Gamble’s
inexplicable magnetism wins him the affection of all the ladies,
including his drop-dead gorgeous devoted wife, but he’s somehow
oblivious to their physical charms. At the same time, baffled by his
irritating partner’s array of present and former hotties, Hoitz makes
plans in case Gamble accidentally croaks during their mission to provide
all the care and comfort his grieving spouse, played by Eva Mendes, will
need. A powder keg of frustration in every aspect of his life, Hoitz
can’t calm his rampant jealousy of his ex-love (- even demonstrating
his ardour at her ballet class) and can’t walk two feet in New York
City without someone reminding him he’s the guy whose case of mistaken
identity cost the Yankees a World Series championship. “You shoulda
shot A-Rod!” one irate fan yells. Writers Chris Henchy and Adam McKay (McKay
also directed) are canny and perverse enough to include a scene
where Gamble is once again being persuaded at gunpoint by Hoitz, who
reminds his partner that he’s the guy who let bullets fly at Yankee
Stadium. Gamble: “That was an accident.” “Was it?” Hoitz, played by
famous Bostonian Mark Wahlberg replies. There is much topical pop
culture referencing throughout to varying effect: Michael Keaton as the
squad’s mellow captain doles out nuggets of Zen-like wisdom to his
officers that sound suspiciously like lyrics from the hip-hop band,
TLC. Steve Coogan is a BP-arrogant British investment banker (“Live
for excess, it’s the American way!”) playing fast and loose with his
clients’ fortunes Bernie Madoff-style while incurring debts to various
international juntas and dictatorships. Damon Wayans, Jr. as a rival
detective competing for the top dog slot advises a group of grade
schoolers that the best way to avoid jail is to “Try your hardest not to
be black or Hispanic.” There are scenes thrown in with only a loose
connection to the plot, but suit the general frivolity; like Gamble’s
reunion with a rather needy ex and her extremely supportive husband,
also a raucous sequence where Gamble’s elderly mother-in-law reluctantly
passes increasingly raunchy messages of love between the detective in
hiding and his worried spouse. Wahlberg is fine as Hoitz, the gung-ho (No
Michael Keaton pun intended) cop that wants only to redeem himself
(- and marry Gamble’s wife), playing the straight man to Will
Ferrell’s stream-of-consciousness buffoonery. A wacky subplot reveals
that Gamble’s fear of coming out from behind his desk stems from his
misspent college years as a gold-fronted pimp with violent tendencies.
In one of the film’s funniest moments, we see that old habits aren’t far
from Gamble’s milquetoast surface when a good cop/bad cop scenario
suffers from a slight misunderstanding.
The
Other Guys is a goof; a happily disposable yukfest that never pretends
to be other than that, yet manages to surprise in the sharpness of its
script and in the fun all involved are clearly having. Besides Ferrell,
Wahlberg, Mendes, Coogan and Keaton; Dwayne ‘I’m not The Rock,
anymore.’ Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson make explosive cameos as the
thrill seeking super cops. Anne Heche has a bit part as a wronged
client of the naughty Brit. Rosie Perez and Brooke Shields (Super
hot wife of the film’s other writer, Chris Henchy) and the cast of
Broadway’s Jersey Boys all serve to try to lure the two good cops off
the track of the bad guys. The New York locations are also nicely used,
like Highsmith and Dodson’s Mustang’s flaming flight into Trump Tower
and a lunch break at the landmark Nathan’s restaurant in Coney Island.
Even seeing the same two blocks near my neighborhood go by Gamble’s
Prius’ window three times in the same one-minute scene can be chalked up
to the freewheeling, unapologetic nuttiness all around this often
hilarious trifle. The Other Guys is good fun in an otherwise dreary
summer. Go laugh.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
Aug. 6th,
2010
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