MyRating: YY1/2Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans Jr., Rob Riggle, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, violence and some drug material
Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) are second grade New York City police detectives, who spend their times mostly behind their desks rather than having 'real' actions on the street. As a partner, they both have totally different personalities. Allen is an obedient guy, who does like his paperwork job. While Terry is an angry man, who hates his stupid tasks as well as his partner, and desperately wants to become a 'real' cop in the line of duty. When the two top cops and most beloved heroes of their town, Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) & Danson (Dwayne Johnson), are unable to perform their duties, Allen and Terry suddenly have to step up to fill the shoes of those great heroes, before others did, and to claim that they are not merely 'the other guys'. It's the opportunity of their lifetimes, but the case they face may also be the biggest crime they may never dream of.
I am not a big fan of Will Ferrell's comedies. Why? I found it difficult to digest most of his jokes. And I didn't enjoy much two of his blockbuster movies, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), which I have to finish them in several sittings when I watched those movies in dvd. I like the guy though, and I think he is funny. However I also think it is true, that even the Americans love his movies, but his jokes are not fitted very well with Asian countries. And if you noticed, those two movies did not perform well in the box office outside the U.S.
This is a quite funny buddy-cop movie (I still expected it to be funnier though). Will Ferrell was back in his favorite typical ignorant character, but sometimes can be so head-strong. This was definitely his zone. So, if you like his jokes, you will like this. Mark Wahlberg seemed to be successfully pulled his character himself as an angry cop, who was frustrated with his job and his partner. And together, as two different styles of actors, their chemistry was blending well. But the most interesting performance, I have to say, was Eva Mendes, who appeared solidly and spicy as Ferrell's sexy wife. Her appearance gave a refreshment to the whole movie. The sex talk between Ferrell and Mendes through the granny was hilarious. That was the funniest scene in this movie.
In overall, this movie was just okay for me. It's a decent one, but the story was just average. I actually expected more to happen in the movie, but nothing significant happened until the end of the movie. It was funny, but not as funny as what I expected. And I also expected more actions, which this movie seemed to lack. I watched this movie with an expectation to get 'punched', but the 'punches' were just not hard enough. That's the dangerous of having too much expectations.
This movie is the fourth collaboration between Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, following Anchorman (2004), Talladega Nights (2006), and Step Brothers (2008). They seem to make a movie together every two years. More will surely come. (MJ)
