The Other Guys (2010)

The Adam Mckay / Will Ferrell partnership is one that has provided much comedic fruit since the pair broke out of the Saturday Night Live mould. Their first collaboration, Anchorman was both a blessing and a curse in a way as it's (rightful) status as one of the funniest comedies of the last twenty years has added an extra layer of expectation upon every new collaboration. With The Other Guys the pair turn their attention to the buddy cop genre of action films, a genre seemingly ripe for the picking with its myriad cliché's and caricatures, however in the execution a lot of this promise feels undercooked and unfulfilled, and this is [partly down to a difference in expectations, as well as wanting to parody the genre there is a distinct effort here to also create an actual buddy cop story and my problems with the film stem from this slightly awkward juxtaposition.

The Other Guys starts strong, a funny parody of the OTT action scenes that litter buddy cop films is a great way to set the tone, and the Rock and Samuel L Jackson have a lot of fun playing up their own images, but as the film progresses this initial promise is never delivered on. We quickly switch to the relatively boring lives of the titular Other Guys, desk cops who never catch a break, Ferrell's uptight and repressed Allen Gamble and Mark Wahlberg's short fused disgraced Terry Hoitz. Together the pair have good chemistry, Wahlberg is an actor who has a specific skill set, and his constant frustration and confusion play well against Ferrell's more subdued straight man. The problem that the film runs into though is that it wants to have it's cake and eat it, it wants to parody the police thriller, but emulate it at the same time. As such when the pair start investigating a case that starts with a simple permit dispute, but that leads to something bigger, it feels quite by the numbers. The case and the eventual bad guy (a wasted Steve Coogan) are not particularly interesting, factors which comedy films have struggled with in the past. In grounding the film to a more recognisable reality it finds itself limited, there is little of the pure silliness that made Anchorman and Step Brothers so much fun. As a result there is little in the way of scenes or dialogue that really sticks in the mind once the film ends, a shame given the film's heritage.

That being said the film is not terrible, it is always amusing, if not especially laugh out loud funny, and the supporting cast help add some flavour, Eva Mendes is good value as Ferrells adoring wife and Michael Keaton is always fun, though his role as the station Captain feels like another wasted opportunity to play with the genre conventions and create something memorable.

The ending of the film is another sticking point, at times in the film it feels like certain facts and situations are being set up for a payoff at the end, a payoff that doesn't come to pass. In fact the ending of the film is a pretty drab affair and fails as either an action scene or the resolution of a comedy. Now I don't want to give the impression that I am totally down on the film, there are a couple of a stand out moments, a brilliant silent fight at a funeral and a visually impressive rendition of a lads night out, but as a whole the film leaves little impression which, given it's pedigree, is disappointing and feels in many ways like a missed opportunity.