The Other Guys

Not Too Big to Fail
The Other Guys, PG-13, *1/2, Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton. Director Adam McKay. Columbia Pictures film. Length: 107 long minutes.

The movie takes place in New York City. Two star police officers are the heroes with the people in the city, because they are tough, cocky, and no matter what it takes New York’s finest take care of the bad guys.
These hard nosed police officers are played by Samuel Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. However, their roles only amount to a small amount of screen time. They are soon out of the picture. They are cocky hotshots with lots of energy. It is apparent they are certifiable.
Detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) are assigned to desk duty. Gamble enjoys his job, but Hoitz is anxious to get back on the streets. He is working in the office because of an incident that happened while he was on the job.
The audience gets an opportunity to hear an enormous amount of yelling from Hoitz. This gets on the audiences nerves as well as everyone else around him.
Because of an unusual incident involving Hysmith (Samuel Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson) it opens the door for Hoitz to get back on the streets. Hoitz insists that Gamble work with him since they are partners. Gamble is extremely reluctant.
The whole story involves corruption in the investment business. With all of the headlines about the sleazy actions of big business, the theme is very relevant. However, this farce is billed as a comedy. Real humor is a stretch for this one. Most of the jokes fall short, and do not make sense. It could be because the studio cut the film to give it a PG-13 rating instead of an R rating.
Nevertheless, the humor just simple does not work for this reviewer. The viewer wonders on many occasion just why these lines were allowed to be uttered. One of the funniest scenes in the movie involves trying to portray “good cop - bad cop.” It seems that Gamble does not understand the concept. He thinks it is “bad cop - bad cop.”
Sheila Gamble (Eva Mendes) is Detective Allen Gamble’s wife. Sheila and Allen have some very weird conversations that get old and fall flat in a hurry.
The audience sees more than enough over the top car chases and shoot outs. With car wrecks that are unbelievable and dull dialogue, “The Other Guys” just does not make the grade for anything above low average.
The audience gets to briefly listen to an old Mama and Papa’s song by John Phillips. It will give the audience some nostalgia. The song is Monday Monday.
An interesting lesson that emerges from this confusing comedy is this quote, “Keep hiding corruption and wrong doings, and eventually the world will come to your door.”
Stay for the credits. Read the inserts about the salaries of CEO’s, retirement benefits, corruption, etc. The credits also reveal the salaries and retirement benefits of police officers and everyday hard working Americans.
I have just about run out of criticism for this one. See it at your own discretion.