THE OTHER GUYS — ★★★ — Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg; rated PG-13 (violence, vulgarity, profanity, drugs); in general release
"The Other Guys" probably could have worked as a straight-up crime drama. And it certainly would have worked if it had been a pure comedy.
Instead, the film tries to be a mixture of both. It's as much about thrilling audiences as it is about getting yuks from them.
The surprise is how well it works in that regard, as a cinematic hybrid. This film accomplishes what the awful Bruce Willis-Tracy Morgan vehicle "Cop Out" tried to do earlier this year, but with much less success.
The title characters are mismatched New York City Police Department detectives. Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) is a straight-laced desk jockey who's more than content to write up reports for his fellow officers.
His partner, Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), isn't thrilled to be stuck with Allen. (Terry is similarly desk-ridden after an incident in which he accidentally shot and wounded New York Yankees star Derek Jeter).
However, Terry coaxes Allen out of the office, at gunpoint, to do some actual police work.
Allen is convinced that shady investment banker David Ershon (Steve Coogan) is involved in something big and illegal. Even Terry thinks the case is flimsy, but Ershon is whisked away by gunmen just as the two bungling cops are arresting him.
Director Adam McKay has staged some action in his earlier hits "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights," but none of the scenes in either of those films stack up to this.
And his matching-up of Ferrell and Wahlberg is inspired. The former is actually playing a faceted character for a change, while the latter is clearly having a ball poking fun at some of his earlier roles.
The supporting cast is good as well. Eva Mendes shows up as Allen's supposedly "plain" wife, while Michael Keaton steals scenes as the detectives' exasperated boss.
Also, given their brief but amusing bit at the start of the film, we certainly wouldn't mind seeing a prequel that featured Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's hero cop characters.
"The Other Guys" is rated PG-13 and features strong violent content and imagery (gunplay and shootings, fatal falls, brawling, explosive and vehicular mayhem, and violence against women), crude humor and references (sight gags and jokes about various bodily and sexual functions), scattered strong profanity, drug content and references (narcotics and marijuana), derogatory language and slurs (some based on sexual orientation, others sexist in nature), and a brief sex scene (mostly implied). Running time: 107 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com