THE OTHER GUYS 2.0***
The previews for this one looked promising but unfortunately all the good stuff was in the previews. It turned out to be a disappointment even with Will Ferrell in it…and I’m a fan of his. Main problem is awful writing and a Director that should have stuck to the basics and just made a comedy rather than a comedy with a couple of unnecessary albatrosses elaborated on below that drag it down.
Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) is an accountant for the New York Police Department. His partner is detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), who is being punished for a particularly embarrassing incident at Yankee Stadium. The stars of the department are Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, but Walberg hopes that he and his passive partner will be able to step up and be the next stars. They begin to investigate a scaffling permit violation ( I know…Huh), committed by billionaire businessman David Ershon , who may be involved in a massive investment corruption scheme of untold Billions . Of course, the comic cops constantly bungle things and get themselves in trouble. For example, Allen loses his firearm and his Captain gives him a wooden "practice" gun instead; later, he has that taken away and is given a whistle.
There are lots of supporting roles and cameos, notably an excellent Michael Keaton as the police captain, who must work a second job at Bed, Bath & Beyond to make ends meet. Eva Mendes stars as Allen's wife, and the running joke is that Ferrell thinks she's "plain," while Walberg can't stop ogling her, and she is very ogable in her part
When the movie focuses on Terry and Allen and their banter, the movie is sorta funny but not laugh out loud. And unfortunately the movie is full of too many other characters, has an unnecessarily complicated plot and subplots, and strays away from the movie as a comedy and tries unsuccessfully to blend in a cop thriller AND political statements. Thus we end up with car chase sequences and shootouts that are just plain awful and way too much seriousness about America’s financial and political woes. We surely don’t need to go to the movies to be reminded about that with ticket prices now up in the $10 range.
Comedy filmmakers should learn that comedies are better when they are short and lean, with more emphasis on jokes and characters than on plot. No one laughs at a plot. Nonetheless, there's enough good Will Ferrell material here, nicely matched by Wahlberg theatrics, to make at least half of a good movie…. and, therefore, wait and rent it for a $1.00 at Red Box are $3.00 at Blockbuster…or even go to the $1.50 movie in Raleigh on Blue Ridge Road..

Clark