Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Review: 'The Other Guys' is similar to other cop comedies but clever


The Other Guys   PG 13      
            The Other Guys is very similar to the lackluster 'Cop Out' from several months ago, although this outing is more amusing and at times very funny. Using mainly the manic chemistry of Whalberg and Farrell to generate a sort of 'anti chemistry', the two New York detectives are accidentally privy to a jewel heist and banking scheme with a billionaire, some mobster types and a lot of car chases. It could have been a spectacular wreck, but Farrell is at his best (since Anchorman) actually and Keaton, Johnson and others help to add some ad lib goodies. It helps that Whalberg plays up the spastic angle a little more, spouting lines like he is on ten times more caffeine than his costars. The way by which both crack the case while muttering one liners neither get is somehow charming. It is what Cop Out was trying for, a direct spoof of buddy cop movies where it's so over the top you can't take it seriously. Some genuine laughs are wrought from telling bad jokes neither Farrell or his costars understand, and their reactions sell it. Keaton even gets into the act 'accidentally' doing lines from TLC. The joke is on the audience. The oddly placed end credits sequence plays like a lecture on the banking fiasco from 2008, but stay for the end when they tell the 'moose joke'. 
Review by Adam Browne

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