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Movie review: The Other Guys
The Other Guys: Political Activism Buried in Absurdist Humor
By Sandra Olmsted
In the guise of a buddy-cop action parody, executive producer Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay make the villain a Wall Street investment guru in order to focus on the US financial crisis. Ferrell and McKay remind the audiences of what is wrong with the financial sector; however, how well audiences like this movie might well be determined by whom they blame for the crisis. It would also help if the moviegoers were males with pubescent streaks that need to be fed nonsensical humor.
Ferrell plays New York Detective Allen Gamble, a repressed cop whose greatest desire is to stay in the office and eagerly do other cops’ paperwork. Gamble is paired with Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg, ), aka the “Yankee Clipper”; Hoitz needs to prove himself after accidentally shooting Derek Jeter during the World Series. Gamble and Hoitz are the dregs of the precinct, and the other cops never let them forget it. The precinct cops are played by a list of exceptional actors, most notably Michael Keaton who plays Captain Gene Mauch.
Keaton is at his deadpan best in this supporting role as a cop who supplements his salary by moonlighting at Bed, Bath & Beyond, so that his son can “explore his sexuality” in college. Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appear briefly as the precinct’s hotshots, P.K. Highsmith and Christopher Danson, respectively, while Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. play, respectively, Martin and Fosse, the cops who enjoy taunting Gamble and Hoitz the most.
Hoitz constantly argues with Gamble over how a real cop should act, which isn’t how the milquetoast Gamble does. Gamble is only interested in playing it safe and following paper trails, yet his dogged pursuit of scaffolding violations leads him and the reluctant Hoitz to David Ershon (Steve Coogan,) , a Wall Street wonder, whose investing expertise, aka a Bernie Madoff-esque scheme, is supposedly making billions for his clients. The not-so-dynamic duo embark on an investigation with all the genre requirements of car chases, warnings to leave Ershon alone, and demotions for not leaving Ershon alone. Although Hoitz finds that he likes being a traffic cop, it is Gamble, a forensic accountant, who continues to follow the paper trail after their demotions. When the paper trail leads to Ershon brazenly trying to get the police retirement fund, can Gamble count on Hoitz for back up?
The script, by Adam McKay (Presidential Reunion) and Chris Henchy (Land of the Lost), feels like a string of skits barely held together by a few plot points that try to explain the absurdities and incongruities in order to make the story work. For example, Eva Mendes plays Dr. Sheila Gamble, Allen Gamble’s “smokin’ hot” “ball and chain” to whom Allen refers as “plain”. Later in the story, a quasi-plausible explanation is given for his assessment of her, but never for her unwavering devotion to him or, for that matter, why beautiful women love Allen Gamble.
The oddity of women’s attraction to Allen Gamble provides some scenes of hilarity, but doesn’t make for a tight story with depth. The problem with Ferrell’s work may be in the fact that the script seems to be less important than creating the vignettes of silliness, but then Ferrell is known more for improv than for acting.
Although the film itself doesn’t get overtly political, the end credits provide amusing graphic representations of financial crisis facts, and everyone should stay for the credits and the surprises in the credits, in terms of both information and performances. For example, moviegoers might find it surprising how fast the disparity between management and worker salaries has grown. Despite being neither male nor enjoying Ferrell’s particular brand of humor, I did like this film because of its humorous look at the financial crisis and its timing of its release in terms of midterm elections. Ferrell’s persona might be of an overgrown adolescent, but at least it is a well-meaning one. A Columbia Picture release, The Other Guys runs 107 minutes and is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, violence and some drug material.
