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In the case of The Other Guys, first impressions aren’t everything. And that applies not only to my initial rush to judgment after seeing the trailer, but also to the two main characters who seemingly have nothing to offer the New York City police force. Upon seeing the trailer for The Other Guys, I thought it was set to be one of those unfunny summer filler comedies. At least Dinner for Schmucks will have company, I thought. Color me shocked when within the first few minutes, I was actually laughing. Out loud.

Yes, essentially, The Other Guys is still one of those summer filler comedies poised for medium-sized box office success, but the difference is, it’s actually a good time – and one big joyride through Manhattan. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play partners – more like desk partners – on the police force. The difference between them is, Allen (Ferrell, doing his best straight-laced doofus) chains himself to his desk willingly, while Terry (Wahlberg, sporting a haircut almost as bad as his Departed character’s) has been relegated there against his every fiber in his being. Allen’s afraid of going out into the field and Terry’s a bit too trigger-happy. He mistakenly shot Derek Jeter (who makes a pretty hilarious cameo), hence his current existence in paperwork purgatory.

The odd couple is the bottom of the barrel. At the top are the team of Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) – two movie-cop caricatures who treat crimes scenes like their own personal action sequences. Their reckless reign soon goes splat, lighting a fire under Terry to get back out there and prove he’s a great cop. After much yelling – and berating – he finally persuades Allen to join him, but the only “hot” lead Allen has is something illegal involving scaffolding permits. Allen’s skimpy lead inevitably turns into something much bigger – involving a Wall Street tycoon (Steve Coogan) who owes a lot of money to very powerful people.

Allen and Terry’s hapless hijinks to gain more evidence in the case bring the most laughs. They include Allen unwittingly convincing a man to commit suicide, accidentally driving over a crime scene in his little red Prius (which Terry describes as “like literally driving around in a vagina”), and the two almost getting blown up at a strip mall. Allen’s reaction to the explosion is priceless.

The film is also at its best when the characters are spitting out throwaway lines and pop culture references. There’s a line at the beginning when a reporter is asking Danson and Highsmith a question. “New York Observer… online,” the man says, stating his publication and dejectedly eeking out the word “online.” The next reporter

identifies herself as being from “TMZ… print edition.” In a later scene, you hear two cops in the background talking: “‘At the crime scene. LOL.’ That’s a good tweet.” Michael Keaton also gets some laughs by playing the police captain who has a second job at Bed, Bath & Beyond, a bisexual son he’s putting through college, and a habit of quoting TLC songs.

In the midst of solving the crime, the guys also deal with their respective love lives – storylines I probably wouldn’t have missed had they been left on the cutting room floor; especially the scenes where Terry stalks an ex – though it does provide a funny bit where Terry shows off his ballet dancing skills. (He later tells Allen he learned to dance in order to make fun of all the “queer” kids in his neighborhood. To which Allen responds, “You learned to dance like that sarcastically?”) Another gag involves Allen having a super hot wife played by Eva Mendes. In fact, all the super hot women in the film seem to pant over Allen and it’s never quite explained why. That whole nerdy-guy-gets-the-hot-chicks-because-of-an-unexplained-charm thing has been done before though, and I was kind of disappointed they weren’t more clever with it.

But I really can’t fault director/co-writer and frequent Ferrell collaborator Adam McKay because well, he put together a movie that defied my expectations. In my review for Dinner for Schmucks, I criticized it for being a bland PG-13, but The Other Guys proves that a PG-13 comedy can still be salty when done right.

Allen and Terry may be bumbling at times, but you certainly won’t mind being a ride-along in their squad car – er, Prius.

Synopsis:

Two mismatched New York City detectives (Ferrell and Wahlberg) seize an opportunity to step up like the city’s top cops whom they idolize — only things don’t quite go as planned.