I wasn’t sure what to think before seeing “The Other Guys” the other night, but the pairing of Mark Wahlberg & Will Ferrell had me wondering how an action/ drama guy like Wahlberg would play with Ferrells kind of humor. It turns out they make quite the pairing. In this cops and robbers film where Gamble(Ferrell), a forensic accountant turned cop who does’nt want to leave his desk and computer gets paired with street smart, gun toting Hoitz(Wahlberg) who gets desk duty for an accidental shooting. As Hoitz gets his itch to get back on the street, 2 hot shot cops(Samuel L. Jackson & Dwayne Johnson) meet an untimely death. With there opening to get back on the street and some persuading by Hoitz they decide to track some Wall St. fraud. Not to mention 2 other very competitve cops who are always trying to beat them to the punch. The two opposites decide to bond over dinner at Gambles house and meet his wife Dr. Sheila Gamble(Eve Mendes). Throughout the movie Hoitz is always wondering how Gamble married such a beautiful woman and has been able to attract other beautiful women since college. That pulls back another layer as Hoitzs alter ego from his college days makes a re-appearance and helps in the partner bonding. Throw in some Chechen rebels and angry Nigerian investors you’ve got a film that’s more than the expected comedy. Some typical Ferrell humor comes into play but Wahlberg shows his humorous side by bouncing back the humor. Bring in Michael Keaton as their Captain at work, who moonlights at Bed, Bath & Beyond and you’ve got a pretty funny movie with a timely story line. Some good chase scenes turns this comedy into a bit of an action film as the guys run the streets of NYC. In the end you should be happy you saw this film as I was as it hits most cylinders. I recommend staying through the credits as there are rolling statistics from the economy’s meltdown of the last few years are shown. There is also a blooper from the film at the very end of credits worth watching. 4 corks out of 5.
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