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NYPD cop Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) torments his partner Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) in the comedy “The Other Guys.” |
Most of 2010’s movies have been so disappointing thus far that I hope I’m not overcompensating when I call “The Other Guys” a welcome riot of surprise, verbal jousting and big-budget, action-movie mockery.
“The Other Guys” is so unpredictably nutty that not even its TV commercials can properly capture the comedy’s off-kilter narrative architecture and breezy disregard for the conventions of a standard cop buddy movie.
There are scenes where the cast and crew seem to be making up the story as they go along, which feels incredibly exciting and free.
It’s only when the movie concentrates on its limp plot – about a Gordon Gekko-esque businessman’s attempts to steal billions – that “The Other Guys” slows to an unworthy anticlimax.
In the beginning, New York City has two macho super cops: Highsmith and Danson (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson).
Their derring-do exploits and death-defying Hollywood stunts – jumping from moving vehicles while miraculously dodging zillions of bullets and massive explosions – make them media darlings who are so revered, they never have to do boring paper work.
Two other of NY’s finest do: detectives Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). Stuck at desks, the two are a comic contrast in styles. (Read more…)