The Other Guys (2010) The Tuna and the Shark

The Other Guys (2010) Columbia

Cop dramas are a dime a dozen and if you don’t believe me then you should thinking about brushing up on your television. Every other show is about police in one branch of government or another. They are usually over dramatized and filled with bad one-liners. Police movies are also overdone, but the cop buddy comedies have risen in success and hilarity in recent years.

The Other Guys was an instant classic as far as comedies go in this millennium because of its ridiculous dialogue and oddball references.  From the first scene which is basically just a cameo for The Rock and Sam Jackson you know this movie is going to be funny, but not to what extent. I mean they started off by driving a car into a bus and then using that bus to propel them into another building which explodes. They catch the bad guys who apparently only had a half pound of weed and caused 12 million dollars in damage to the city. Not only does no one care about this, but these two cops are beloved by the people in the city and the media for being reckless and charismatic. Of course they die a scene later jumping off a 20 story building to catch some thieves which only adds to their legacy.

I don’t think I have seen a better PG-13 film comedy wise. Sure there was violence, crude references, and some drug references, but most of it was easily forgotten because of how funny Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg are. It’s interesting to see Ferrell seemingly make more out of every character he plays. In the other films directed by the same guy, Ferrell plays a very different type of character in each one albeit they are similar. In this film he is an explosive yet passive personality. He has some conflicting feelings since he was a pimp in college while openly denying it. I’d have some issues if that was my life too.

Both characters have an identity issue and the movie itself has one as well. The end credits make you feel as if you were watching some corporate espionage story when in fact it was a comedy that features a wooden gun, a guy who accidentally shot Derek Jeter, and a police captain that makes several TLC references. I feel like it was supposed to be a part of some bigger theme, but it gets derailed so many times for so many reasons. When it ends you are supposed to just remember that the cops did their job while everything goes back to normal. I felt like that was kind of disappointing.

The Other Guys was a good idea and it was a funny movie. I wish they made more films like this, but it didn’t do so well in the box office so I doubt they will. Years later the movie is still funny.