“I’m like a peacock! You gotta let me fly!”
-Mark Wahlberg, as himself
“OW, my ears! How do you walk away from an explosion without it hurting your ears, man? I call B.S. on that! This is like watching Star Wars, where Luke uses the Force and escapes the Death Star without a problem, completely unrealistic!”
-Will Ferrell, as himself
“Did someone call 9-1-holy shit?”
-Samuel L. Jackson, as himself
“Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’? Aim for the bushes.”
-The Rock, as himself, about to jump off a ten-story building
“Don't let anyone spoil the wildly hilarious surprises. Ferrell and Wahlberg will double your fun. Guaranteed.”
-Peter Travers, RollingStone.com
“Ditto.”
-Me, on the above
You may have heard about “The Other Guys,” the 2010 buddy cop film starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as the title characters on the police force. Frankly, it’s not going to do what the Jason Bourne did for spy movies or “Unforgiven” did for Western films. However, it does precisely what Austin Powers did for spy movies and “Blazing Saddles” did for Western films. It’s a film which parodies everything we love and hate about police movies, and it’s a film that’s simply hilarious in its own right.
In my “Cop Out” review, another “homage” to buddy cop movies, you might remember I was willing to approach the movie on its own terms. It’s not really a good movie, and it’s basically something the talented Kevin Smith basically churned out for a quick buck, but I was still able to appreciate “Cop Out” for its dumb, mindless, lowest-common-denominator approach (as well as its general willingness to admit that it’s not really a good movie).
“The Other Guys” (which shouldn’t even be on the same planet as that other movie) benefits from a deconstructive element of its own genre, which is present from the moment the “real” stars of the movie—one Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and one Samuel L. “Mothafucking Snakes” Jackson himself—burst through the opening credits as your run-of-the-mill gun-toting cowboy cops who kick ass and take names, leaving a trail of destruction and property damage in their wake. Of course, the “other guys” are there to pick up where they left off.
For all intents and purposes, both the other guys and…those other guys…are basically still type casted. Will Ferrell is still the well-meaning but ultimately destructive idiot he’s portrayed with diminishing returns in countless other movies, and Mark Wahlberg plays the emotionally-charged, temperamental straight man to Ferrell’s cornball antics. Rounding out their trio is Michael Keaton as their chief, known for dispensing sagely pearls of wisdom (such as a wooden gun and a rape whistle). And finally we have the “stars” themselves, the Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, who are basically every action star they’ve ever played.
Make no mistake; the previews promised us a cartoon movie, and what we get here is basically a cartoon movie. Nowhere is this more apparent than, of course, with Ferrell himself, the alumni of SNL and long-time cartoon character ever since the powers that be in Hollywood decided he would make a good leading man. Don’t get me wrong, though, the “cartoon” boasted by this movie is balanced out by a degree of intriguing character development, as well as its willingness to poke fun at the more cartoonish aspects of “real” action movies. (See the quoted “Aim for the bushes” above…)
In the name of fairness, there are some scenes that are weaker than others. The principal moment that comes to mind is toward the end, when Ferrell’s character, on the run from the law (as any good movie cop should be), is in hiding and tries to reach his wife. For the first minute or so, it’s funny. Then the scene keeps going, and going, and going. (Mind you, though, when you can work someone’s grandmother into a movie like that, it’s still pretty funny anyway…)
The simple fact of the matter is, this is a good movie. Where most other movies would do it wrong, “The Other Guys” does it right. It’s a movie that questions, deconstructs, pokes at, and ultimately emulates every action movie you’ve ever seen, much less with two of the best comedic leads of the year. You must see this movie. Your friends must see this movie. Your family and your friends’ families must see this movie.
Note: The Brewsky is an enthusiastic contributor and movie reviewer who apparently deals in absolutes. Seriously, it feels like you’re waiting for him to say, “You! Shall Not! PAAASSS!!!”
-Mark Wahlberg, as himself
“OW, my ears! How do you walk away from an explosion without it hurting your ears, man? I call B.S. on that! This is like watching Star Wars, where Luke uses the Force and escapes the Death Star without a problem, completely unrealistic!”
-Will Ferrell, as himself
“Did someone call 9-1-holy shit?”
-Samuel L. Jackson, as himself
“Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’? Aim for the bushes.”
-The Rock, as himself, about to jump off a ten-story building
“Don't let anyone spoil the wildly hilarious surprises. Ferrell and Wahlberg will double your fun. Guaranteed.”
-Peter Travers, RollingStone.com
“Ditto.”
-Me, on the above
You may have heard about “The Other Guys,” the 2010 buddy cop film starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as the title characters on the police force. Frankly, it’s not going to do what the Jason Bourne did for spy movies or “Unforgiven” did for Western films. However, it does precisely what Austin Powers did for spy movies and “Blazing Saddles” did for Western films. It’s a film which parodies everything we love and hate about police movies, and it’s a film that’s simply hilarious in its own right.
In my “Cop Out” review, another “homage” to buddy cop movies, you might remember I was willing to approach the movie on its own terms. It’s not really a good movie, and it’s basically something the talented Kevin Smith basically churned out for a quick buck, but I was still able to appreciate “Cop Out” for its dumb, mindless, lowest-common-denominator approach (as well as its general willingness to admit that it’s not really a good movie).
“The Other Guys” (which shouldn’t even be on the same planet as that other movie) benefits from a deconstructive element of its own genre, which is present from the moment the “real” stars of the movie—one Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and one Samuel L. “Mothafucking Snakes” Jackson himself—burst through the opening credits as your run-of-the-mill gun-toting cowboy cops who kick ass and take names, leaving a trail of destruction and property damage in their wake. Of course, the “other guys” are there to pick up where they left off.
For all intents and purposes, both the other guys and…those other guys…are basically still type casted. Will Ferrell is still the well-meaning but ultimately destructive idiot he’s portrayed with diminishing returns in countless other movies, and Mark Wahlberg plays the emotionally-charged, temperamental straight man to Ferrell’s cornball antics. Rounding out their trio is Michael Keaton as their chief, known for dispensing sagely pearls of wisdom (such as a wooden gun and a rape whistle). And finally we have the “stars” themselves, the Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, who are basically every action star they’ve ever played.
Make no mistake; the previews promised us a cartoon movie, and what we get here is basically a cartoon movie. Nowhere is this more apparent than, of course, with Ferrell himself, the alumni of SNL and long-time cartoon character ever since the powers that be in Hollywood decided he would make a good leading man. Don’t get me wrong, though, the “cartoon” boasted by this movie is balanced out by a degree of intriguing character development, as well as its willingness to poke fun at the more cartoonish aspects of “real” action movies. (See the quoted “Aim for the bushes” above…)
In the name of fairness, there are some scenes that are weaker than others. The principal moment that comes to mind is toward the end, when Ferrell’s character, on the run from the law (as any good movie cop should be), is in hiding and tries to reach his wife. For the first minute or so, it’s funny. Then the scene keeps going, and going, and going. (Mind you, though, when you can work someone’s grandmother into a movie like that, it’s still pretty funny anyway…)
The simple fact of the matter is, this is a good movie. Where most other movies would do it wrong, “The Other Guys” does it right. It’s a movie that questions, deconstructs, pokes at, and ultimately emulates every action movie you’ve ever seen, much less with two of the best comedic leads of the year. You must see this movie. Your friends must see this movie. Your family and your friends’ families must see this movie.
Note: The Brewsky is an enthusiastic contributor and movie reviewer who apparently deals in absolutes. Seriously, it feels like you’re waiting for him to say, “You! Shall Not! PAAASSS!!!”
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