The Other Guys

I like Will Ferrell’s dry humor; I enjoy his Ron Burgundy character as well as his supporting roles in Frat Pack comedies (with Stiller, Vaughn, Ferrell, Wilson, Carell et al.). But this film is an example of a (hopefully only temporary) failure on the part of the screenwriter and director. Moreover, even the action scenes that do not require working with actors and the escalation of the dialogue scenes are terribly difficult to follow. The second star is only for Eva Mendes. (02/01/2011)

As absurdly moronic as a flying peacock with a broken hip. At times it's as funny as few other things, but mostly rather as mediocre as anything. It's just a disposable piece of crap, but thanks to the closing credits it is one of the most socially engaged political appeals of the year, or what is Michael Moore doing? (23/11/2010)

It’s really too bad that the considerable portion of brilliant jokes (the opening action, the fork on the table) is matched by a larger pile of fatal awkwardness (the partner etudes), which is mercilessly apparent during the two-hour runtime. Ironically, it's a parody in the style of The Naked Gun, where everything was handled with a ruthless stone face instead of theatrical goofiness. Honestly, though, I think if Ferrell and Wahlberg switched roles, it would have worked better. (15/11/2010)

I decided to give my brain cells some time off in response to the dumb script, ignored moments of cringe humor, and enjoyed myself. It was a really undemanding film, but with a decent cast. Some of the ideas were great (Captain Gene's side gig). I'm happy I didn’t use to be a bully. I don't know if I could have handled the ballet, harp playing and conversations about art. To sum it up, it was pretty silly, but I had quite a good laugh. (17/01/2018)

Yes, some people are satisfied with the small things in life. Would you like to know what I expect from a relaxing comedy? Well, for example, a minimum of boredom, a script full of jokes of all kinds, actors who can handle them, pace, swing and at least a little bit of skillful direction, if the comedy is also supposed to include a bit of action... The Other Guys has all that. I have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised by the well-chosen and well-acting duo of Wahlberg and Ferrell (the dialogue about lions and tunas is the best). Michael Keaton as the "Captain" was also good, I would never dare to say anything against Eva Mendes, I like Steve Coogan more and more, and as for The Rock and Samuel L. Johnson - well... The only minus is that it could have been about 15 minutes shorter. Three and a half stars - however, I will boldly round up. (13/01/2011)