Nutty action comedy 'The Other Guys' never cops out
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.
Gamble is a studious "forensic accountant" who cheerfully hums TV themes and drives the action-oriented Hoitz into fits of frustration.
Where the congenial Gamble is content to clean up the Super Cops' messes, Hoitz wants to be back on the street and busting bad guys, as he was before he went trigger-happy and shot a famous New York baseball player.
"Captain, I'm a peacock! I gotta fly!" Hoitz shouts to his boss, Captain Mauch (Michael Keaton), a supervisor who makes ends meet by moonlighting at a local Bed, Bath & Beyond store.
When the Super Cops start believing their own publicity and dive off a high-rise building in one of the weirdest and most shocking movie moments of the year, Gamble and Hoitz go on the street. They deal with more interpersonal conflicts than crimes.
Hoitz can't stand Gamble's overt niceness or his red Toyota Prius, which suffers more masculinity put-downs than the target of a Don Rickles roast.
Gamble rises above insults.
"I'm going to climb over that anger wall of yours and it will be glorious!" Gamble burbles to his partner.
The aforementioned plot kicks in when the cops discover a scheme by business tycoon David Ershon (Steve Coogan) to steal billions to cover his losses. But where will he steal the money from?
"The Other Guys" reunites Ferrell and director Adam McKay, who joined forces for "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and "Step Brothers."
Ferrell is in his element as Gamble, a fastidious nerd who has no idea how or why he relates to other people. In one of the script's many guffaw-worthy running gags, Gamble's so-called "plain" wife Dr. Sheila Gamble turns out to be the smoldering Eva Mendes, and all of his former lovers are hotter than Victoria's Secret models.
This dumbfounds Hoitz, played with an emotionally arrested acting style by Wahlberg. Normally, Wahlberg's constantly constipated expression and dueling delivery would be a detriment in a comedy like this.
Here, his painfully limited range actually works for his character, a slightly out-of-shape dweeb with a bad haircut.
Admittedly, the running time for "The Other Guys" exceeds its ability to amuse by at least 10 minutes.
So if McKay really wants to establish himself as a cinematic milestone maker, he should become the first director to make the DVD "director's cut" of his movie shorter than the theatrical release.
'The Other Guys'Rating: #9733; #9733; #9733;Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. JacksonDirected by: Adam McKayOther: A Columbia Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for drug use, language, sexual situations, violence. 107 minutes