BY KEITH EVANS
So, this past year (that would be 2010) was proclaimed as a subpar year for comedies. I kind of missed alot of them, trying to catch up as much as possible now. Haven't even seen Date Night, yet I'm told it's one of the better ones of the year, however, one of the main ones I wanted to see was The Other Guys, which I did recently.
Now, I was told that it was "ok" by a few "trusted" sources. Some people have this thing where they compare every Will Ferrell comedy to Anchorman, which is foolish. Unfortunately Will exhausted alot of his (or Adam McKay's) best material and delivery on Anchorman, and while it remains a classic, it almost sets the bar in a way where any other Ferrell/McKay collabo is scrutinized for not being THAT good. In my opinion, at this point, Step Brothers was about as close as you'd get.
I went into watching The Other Guys with a fresh mind. No judgement. What happened was sort of surprising. I fucking LOVED it. This movie is hilarious and I'm not sure why people kind of pushed it under the rug.
Will Ferrell, again, takes on a character that holds a semi odd job posistion (forensics accountant). Mark Wahlberg is simply just a parody of himself, but executes it pretty nicely. They are partners, which I still don't get why they're partners seeing ass upon the movies premise, they have desk jobs, and not sure why desk police need partners. That's pretty funny in itself.
They ARE the Other Guys, as compared to the cameos of Samuel L. Jackson and Duane "the rock" Johnson as the hot shot, action movie based bad ass cop duo. They die in realistic fashion, which leads to Ferrell and Wahlberg finally stepping it up as a formidable police duo in their own right.
Wahlberg's essential impression of Ferrell in the movie makes for good times; "When you pee, it sounds feminine". Irony is written in the form of Ferrell having a hot wife (Eva Mendes) and his former station in life as pimp Gator, which makes more more good times and some nice movie quotes.
All in all, I don't see the issue. I realize the effects of the Anchorman stigma, not to mention Hangover setting another bar for movies as well, but this movie IS a must see. If I were to rank Will Ferrell movies "with the exclusion of Elf and Kicking & Screaming for being family comedies, as well as non comedy Will Ferrell projects) I would go 1.Anchorman, 2.Stepbrothers, then 3.The Other Guys.
Please do your self a favor, strip yourself of your snobby standards, roll up some illegal greenery, and watch this movie. Trust me, if you like funny, it is truly well worth your time.
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