Let's jump into the Prius, crank up the Little River Band, catch the bad banker and lock him up in the Federal Reserve! For the first time, a hybrid car is a major character in a Hollywood movie and the butt of a lot of jokes. And there's more butt jokes. And butt and poison ivy jokes. And tuna jokes. And did you know the average CEO to worker salary ratio is 319:1? Jokes and social significance all in one package at a theater near you.
One Word Movie Review: Good
The Other Guys is an inspired, loony and frenetic retread of familiar cop/buddy/loser plots and adds twisted and refreshing comic bits in the hopes that something sticks to the audience's jaded funny bones. The total efforts of a great cast and the director's courage to toss curveballs and surprises at you must be applauded. Of course, it doesn't always work but that's not the point. There are plenty of great moments, some lame jokes and a few scenes that are just plain odd. The movie end credits sum up the whole Wall Street imbalance vs. Main Street and drives home the bad guy's motivation in the movie. All in all, The Other Guys is an ambitious and satisfying amusement for most everybody.
It is also funny. Full stop. Most comedies are not, so this is actually startling for Hollywood. It's not in the same league as The Hangover, but few films are. The Other Guys tries damn hard to mimic the success of that movie.
The audience on opening night was primed to like this film, mostly young and male, but with dates and some mature folk in the audience as well. The pre-movie chatter was lively, with lots of shoving over who gets the elbow rest and opinions on why most everything consumer-related is "stupid" and one guy insisting to his friend that "he wasn't supposed to be trustworthy!" He could be a character in this movie. They laughed throughout, at the dumb jokes, the marriage jokes, the competitive jokes and most stayed to the very end to watch the credits outlining the alarming statistics on how much money Wall Street rakes in to the groove of Pimps Don't Cry by Cee-Lo Green & Eva Mendes. There is an end of the movie joke-in-the-restaurant scene between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg so you might want to stay for that too.
The Story
The story juices the crowd with an over-the-top, into the second deck of the bus chase scene between the rockstar cops, Highsmith and Danson and a SUV full of machine-gunning bad guys. The final explosion and triumphant capture shifts to admiration back in the squad room, as all the wannabee cop teams share the spotlight with these two superstars. All except the "other guys", Gamble and Hoitz played by Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The rockstar cops party hardy and pass the paperwork onto the rest of the squad (Gamble volunteers).
From there, we establish the set-up of the white collar vs. blue collar criminal busts, with Gamble being an "accountant for law and order" on the trail of a dastardly villain who hasn't applied for the right permits on seven buildings. What a clue! Of course, Hoitz is properly pissed at his partner and Wahlberg plays the angry, frustrated cop on a constant simmering boil. He yells and screams and then, when they get a chance to move up in the office pecking order after the rockstar cops suddenly screw-up, they meander around a billionaire investor who's trying to raise $32 billion dollars to save his ass.
The plot is confused and irrelevant for the most part so it's better if you just don't bother to follow it and just sit back and enjoy the jokes and comic performances by Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes as they play straight men to Ferrell and Wahlberg. Who needs plot when you're absorbing concepts like a school of tuna stalking a pride of lions or how a guy's piss can sound "feminine" in the urinal.
The resolution of all the financial extortion takes way too long and makes no sense but does include a boardroom gunfight and a Grand Theft Auto car chase set to the song Monday, Monday by the Mamas and the Papas. The bad guys are caught and advised to "love prison food and penis" and then we're on to the credits and pimp music.
I have a new novel called Frozen Stiff, a Blake Massey Mystery. It is a finalist in the Great American Author Competition sponsored by http://offthebookshelf.com/ and I would ask everyone to please go to the site and vote for one of the finalists (I hope you vote for me - I am near the bottom of the page) for inclusion in a TV ad campaign. Vote here: http://offthebookshelf.com/great_american_author
One Word Movie Review: Good
The Other Guys is an inspired, loony and frenetic retread of familiar cop/buddy/loser plots and adds twisted and refreshing comic bits in the hopes that something sticks to the audience's jaded funny bones. The total efforts of a great cast and the director's courage to toss curveballs and surprises at you must be applauded. Of course, it doesn't always work but that's not the point. There are plenty of great moments, some lame jokes and a few scenes that are just plain odd. The movie end credits sum up the whole Wall Street imbalance vs. Main Street and drives home the bad guy's motivation in the movie. All in all, The Other Guys is an ambitious and satisfying amusement for most everybody.
It is also funny. Full stop. Most comedies are not, so this is actually startling for Hollywood. It's not in the same league as The Hangover, but few films are. The Other Guys tries damn hard to mimic the success of that movie.
The audience on opening night was primed to like this film, mostly young and male, but with dates and some mature folk in the audience as well. The pre-movie chatter was lively, with lots of shoving over who gets the elbow rest and opinions on why most everything consumer-related is "stupid" and one guy insisting to his friend that "he wasn't supposed to be trustworthy!" He could be a character in this movie. They laughed throughout, at the dumb jokes, the marriage jokes, the competitive jokes and most stayed to the very end to watch the credits outlining the alarming statistics on how much money Wall Street rakes in to the groove of Pimps Don't Cry by Cee-Lo Green & Eva Mendes. There is an end of the movie joke-in-the-restaurant scene between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg so you might want to stay for that too.
The Story
The story juices the crowd with an over-the-top, into the second deck of the bus chase scene between the rockstar cops, Highsmith and Danson and a SUV full of machine-gunning bad guys. The final explosion and triumphant capture shifts to admiration back in the squad room, as all the wannabee cop teams share the spotlight with these two superstars. All except the "other guys", Gamble and Hoitz played by Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The rockstar cops party hardy and pass the paperwork onto the rest of the squad (Gamble volunteers).
From there, we establish the set-up of the white collar vs. blue collar criminal busts, with Gamble being an "accountant for law and order" on the trail of a dastardly villain who hasn't applied for the right permits on seven buildings. What a clue! Of course, Hoitz is properly pissed at his partner and Wahlberg plays the angry, frustrated cop on a constant simmering boil. He yells and screams and then, when they get a chance to move up in the office pecking order after the rockstar cops suddenly screw-up, they meander around a billionaire investor who's trying to raise $32 billion dollars to save his ass.
The plot is confused and irrelevant for the most part so it's better if you just don't bother to follow it and just sit back and enjoy the jokes and comic performances by Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes as they play straight men to Ferrell and Wahlberg. Who needs plot when you're absorbing concepts like a school of tuna stalking a pride of lions or how a guy's piss can sound "feminine" in the urinal.
The resolution of all the financial extortion takes way too long and makes no sense but does include a boardroom gunfight and a Grand Theft Auto car chase set to the song Monday, Monday by the Mamas and the Papas. The bad guys are caught and advised to "love prison food and penis" and then we're on to the credits and pimp music.
I have a new novel called Frozen Stiff, a Blake Massey Mystery. It is a finalist in the Great American Author Competition sponsored by http://offthebookshelf.com/ and I would ask everyone to please go to the site and vote for one of the finalists (I hope you vote for me - I am near the bottom of the page) for inclusion in a TV ad campaign. Vote here: http://offthebookshelf.com/great_american_author
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