The Other Guys
Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg
Directed by Adam McKay
[Three stars]
Take a plot about two NYPD detectives who sit on the sidelines while other cops get all the shootouts and glam headlines. Kick it up a notch by casting Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as the losers who stumble into the big time. Spice with giddy action from the script by Chris Henchy and director Adam McKay. Then sit back and laugh your ass off. I did. Ferrell and McKay scored with Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, and, with Henchy, they started the influential comedy website Funny or Die. That’s Hall of Fame funny, right there. In The Other Guys, they’re flying on comic helium. OK, the balloon loses altitude from time to time, but Ferrell and Wahlberg are a comic riot. Ferrell is effortlessly uproarious. And watching hardass Wahlberg, in his first starring shot at farce, shake his sillies out is not to be missed. Catch his double and triple takes when the wife Ferrell claims to be embarrassed by turns out to be crazy-sexy Eva Mendes. But there I go giving away the jokes. Don’t let anyone spoil the wildly hilarious surprises. Ferrell and Wahlberg will double your fun. Guaranteed.
