"The Other Guys" - REVIEW

Will Ferrell has made a career out of playing idiots in films that spoofed film genres or professions. When this trend has clicked, it's been enjoyably stupid, and gut-bustingly funny (Anchorman). When it hasn't it's been painful (Semi-Pro). Farrell's latest comedy, The Other Guys, a send-up of buddy cop movies, unfortunately falls into the latter camp. While not without its funny moments, The Other Guys suffers from horrendous pacing and timing, along with a total misfire of a performance from one of its stars.

Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play Alan Gamble and Terry Hoitz, two NYPD officers who are stuck doing grunt work while the rest of the force, namely two star officers (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), grab the rest of the glory. After Johnson and Jackson's characters are killed by falling flatter than most of the movie, Terry senses an opportunity to grab some glory for himself. Yet Alan seems to have no interest, and prefers to stay behind his desk. I could spoil the rest of the plot, but I'd suck out what little interest the plot holds. Suffice it to say that deciding to place the villainy in the world of finance and stocks is beyond terrible, and results in a total waste of Steve Coogan as an irresponsible executive. The script also misuses Michael Keaton as the officers' captain. And speaking of a waste, Mark Wahlberg totally misses the mark as Hoitz, supposed to be the "straight role" with a few hidden loose screws. His performance suggests that, like his guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, that Wahlberg should avoid this sort of goofy comedy. Ferrell, surprisingly, is the only one who completely sells his character's oddity and idiocy, in a performance that feels tame and controlled compared to his other recent work. Wahlberg, however, seems thoroughly uncomfortable in his role, and some scenes feel too self-serious to really make the jokes work. Not that a better performance would have helped too much to begin with. The film'e editing seems driven to undercut the timing of jokes at any cost. That's not to say that I didn't laugh, but the laughs were hollow at best.

There's also the notable absence of music throughout most of the scenes, which only adds to the general sense of lethargy. When there is music, it feels tacked on, especially the use of the Black Eyes Peas' "Imma Bee" in a still-life shot of the two officers getting drunk. But what perhaps defines everything wrong with The Other Guys can be found in the end credits. Filled with facts about large salaries given to CEO's, and the disparity between the pay of executives and average employees, the film seems to suggest that it was something with a statement to make. Such information would be appropriate in material like say, Soderbergh's The Informant!, (although the subject matter doesn't match up), but to place it at the end of something as empty and dull as The Other Guys, feels like a tasteless plea for legitimacy. And for a film that's supposed to be a parody, there's just something that doesn't sit right. Here's hoping that the film stays as unrecognized as its protagonists in its first half.

Grade: C-