The Other Guys

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are a couple of lowly pen pushers in the New York police force who are continually sidelined by the loud and brash achievements of the department’s star players, Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The case that allows the “Other Guys” to push their way into the limelight concerns the corruption of malign businessman Steve Coogan, but the complications of the plot are not as important as the high level of comedy that this film manages to retain throughout.

The film has the energy of an extended comedy sketch, combining satire, slapstick and the surreal. As expected, the comedy is in good hands with Will Ferrell, but the real surprises here are the actors who match his comedy with similar skill. Wahlberg is far funnier than he has been for several years, and Eva Mendes happily sends herself up in her role as Ferrell’s unfeasibly attractive wife. This film puts a refreshing twist on the tired old conventions of buddy movies, and a few critics have already begun to describe this as one of the funniest films of the year.

Shoshana Eilon