The Other Guys

The Other Guys is laugh out loud funny from beginning to end.  I loved it.

Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Jackson play The Guys – the hero cops who crash the cars, collar the perps, and get the girls.  Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play The Other Guys – the guys who fetch coffee and get stuck with the paperwork.  Wahlberg was a rising star on the NYPD until he made a critical mistake and got shuffled to a lousy division and a lousy partner in Ferrell, and Ferrell’s just a schmuck who’d rather work boring building permit violations in front of his computer than get out there and blow stuff up.  Wahlberg hates Ferrell and the complacent mediocrity he represents.  Ferrell, well, he’s a happy schmuck.

So it’s an odd couple comedy, and Wahlberg and Ferrell make it work.  They pair shares perfect comic timing, and the writing pops (With extra credit for a Yojimbo joke!  I mean, really, who writes Yojimbo jokes into their mass-market comedies?).  The setups and payoffs work just right, and even the jokes we see coming twist and turn in different ways.  Add a villain who’s just villainous enough for the story yet still goofy enough for a comedy; a big third act action finale with first rate practical stunts and seamless CGI integration; and great supporting work from the likes of Michael Keaton, Eva Mendez, and Ron Riggle; and you have the recipe for a first-rate action comedy.

What a treat.