David AllsoppReview: The Other Guys (2010)
August 15th 2011 10:28
Directed by Adam McKay.
In The Other Guys, desk-jockey detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and his tough-talking partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) suddenly get their big chance to tackle a high-profile case – and escape from working in the shadows of the super-confident and high-profile detectives Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) – when they encounter a corrupt investor (Steve Coogan).
For a film that is billed as a comedy The Other Guys failed to deliver in three key areas.
First of all, it’s not especially funny. Only so much mileage can be made out of people being obnoxious to one another, and when a film is filled with such characters it starts off being grating then quickly becomes annoying. There some funny set-pieces, but most of the humour should have come from the character interactions which just fall flat most of the time.
Secondly, the plot seems to be just an excuse to tie the different set-pieces together. All the exposition is covered by a select few scenes that involve any sort of actual investigation work on the behalf of the detective, and the rest of the time is spent trying to lampoon the cliché’s of the buddy-cop genre. I like a lampoon as much as the next man, but if you’re doing more than just sketch comedy you need the actual investigation to be more compelling.
Lastly, the two lead characters are neither sympathetic nor especially likeable. I of course acknowledge that not all lead characters in comedies need that likeability factor, but these two don’t fall into that “bad person but compelling” category either that was so well done in films like Bad Santa. I kept waiting for these characters to click for me, but it didn’t happen.
Will Ferrell has shown his range as an actor in films like Stranger Than Fiction, and displayed his more ‘balls-to-the-wall’ comedy persona to great effect in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (also directed by McKay), but here in The Good Guys because the material isn’t there Ferrell has to fall-back on his “shout my lines to make them more funny” technique and only succeeds in being irritating. Mark Wahlberg has also shown a deft comedic touch with the right material, but there is little he can do here to make it work. Steve Coogan is once again a wasted commodity, as he seems to be in a lot of his US film appearances. Only Eva Mendes and Michael Keaton manage to make the most of what little material they are given – but it’s not enough to make the film work.
You can assemble a great cast, and have a great looking film, but without compelling characters, a well-crafted story and actual laughs you don’t have a successful comedy. What you end up with is a disappointment, and that’s the only way I can sum up The Other Guys.
Two not very funny Bananas out of Five.
In The Other Guys, desk-jockey detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and his tough-talking partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) suddenly get their big chance to tackle a high-profile case – and escape from working in the shadows of the super-confident and high-profile detectives Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) – when they encounter a corrupt investor (Steve Coogan).
For a film that is billed as a comedy The Other Guys failed to deliver in three key areas.
First of all, it’s not especially funny. Only so much mileage can be made out of people being obnoxious to one another, and when a film is filled with such characters it starts off being grating then quickly becomes annoying. There some funny set-pieces, but most of the humour should have come from the character interactions which just fall flat most of the time.
Secondly, the plot seems to be just an excuse to tie the different set-pieces together. All the exposition is covered by a select few scenes that involve any sort of actual investigation work on the behalf of the detective, and the rest of the time is spent trying to lampoon the cliché’s of the buddy-cop genre. I like a lampoon as much as the next man, but if you’re doing more than just sketch comedy you need the actual investigation to be more compelling.
Lastly, the two lead characters are neither sympathetic nor especially likeable. I of course acknowledge that not all lead characters in comedies need that likeability factor, but these two don’t fall into that “bad person but compelling” category either that was so well done in films like Bad Santa. I kept waiting for these characters to click for me, but it didn’t happen.
Will Ferrell has shown his range as an actor in films like Stranger Than Fiction, and displayed his more ‘balls-to-the-wall’ comedy persona to great effect in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (also directed by McKay), but here in The Good Guys because the material isn’t there Ferrell has to fall-back on his “shout my lines to make them more funny” technique and only succeeds in being irritating. Mark Wahlberg has also shown a deft comedic touch with the right material, but there is little he can do here to make it work. Steve Coogan is once again a wasted commodity, as he seems to be in a lot of his US film appearances. Only Eva Mendes and Michael Keaton manage to make the most of what little material they are given – but it’s not enough to make the film work.
You can assemble a great cast, and have a great looking film, but without compelling characters, a well-crafted story and actual laughs you don’t have a successful comedy. What you end up with is a disappointment, and that’s the only way I can sum up The Other Guys.
Two not very funny Bananas out of Five.
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