Hollywood and New York City cant have enough of each other. Just like Bollywood and Delhi of late. It happened in Sex and the City 2.0, and it has happened again in The Other Guys.
(No prizes for guessing which one is more gay.)
But unlike Bollywood, Hollywood has always had fun cops. Even our villains looked bored everytime Iftekhar said his 'Tum Charon Taraf Se Ghir Chuke Ho' line and returned to rehearse it for another scene/movie. Hollywood has had the Clint Eastwood brand of cool with Dirty Harry and that of Tom Hanks with Catch Me If You Can, while all we have on our resume is Chulbul Pandey!
'The Other Guys' begins with 2 superstar cops(Dwayne Johnson and Samuel.L.Jacksone) in an action filled criminal chase with Stayin Alive's horribly remixed Hip-Hop version playing in the background.
And then they die. Leaving behind 'The Other Guys'.
The Police Department now boasts of two clumsy underachievers(Will Ferrel as Allen Gamble, and Mark Wahlberg as Terry Hoitz) who are the butt of jokes , and report to a boss with an O.C.D(Michael Keaton).
Underachievers turns underdogs, and begin the pursuit of glory. Except that they are still clumsy and have only each other to fall back on- 'Partner Code' they call it. Only Allen Gamble has it better- because he has an unsaid, unestablished something that draws women to him. For a guy as clumsy, old and weird to be married to someone as hot, attractive and committed as Sheila(Eva Mendes) doesn't quite make sense. Least of all, to Terry.( In his defence, no-one has really figured out the deal with attraction). They see a silver lining with multi-billionaire David Ershon(Steve Coogan), who Allen KNOWS is guilty of a scaffolding scandal.
Thus begins a wild goose chase which has our underdogs brave doubts(their own and of others), Ershon's goons, their past(Allen, back in college, was this guy who helped his female friends make money out of dating guys-Give me one word for it.) personal and professional setbacks, before they finally win and shake off being 'The Other Guys'. They had to win: because like most millionaires, Ershon's only comeback is bribes, which are in a class of their own. Allen and Terry's confrontations with him tell you more about them than anything else. If you are the kinds who feel constipated unless they know a film's message, let it be this: Its about how everyone is a potential superstar, more so, the unseen, unheard of guys who work behind the scenes.
The writers' wit and that of the actors' merges well enough to let you not think of the message though. Every frame is beautifully written, and Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg have you in splits with some epic lines(Sample:'I'm a peacock, I wanna fly'- which might just become the film's defining line). Just a thought though: I would have loved to see Jim Carrey in at least one of the two roles.
'The Other Guys' is to police departments what Scrubs is to medicine. Watch it by all means, and you might just feel better about going to work the next day. I didn't, but that's only because I watched it on a Saturday...;)view less
(No prizes for guessing which one is more gay.)
But unlike Bollywood, Hollywood has always had fun cops. Even our villains looked bored everytime Iftekhar said his 'Tum Charon Taraf Se Ghir Chuke Ho' line and returned to rehearse it for another scene/movie. Hollywood has had the Clint Eastwood brand of cool with Dirty Harry and that of Tom Hanks with Catch Me If You Can, while all we have on our resume is Chulbul Pandey!
'The Other Guys' begins with 2 superstar cops(Dwayne Johnson and Samuel.L.Jacksone) in an action filled criminal chase with Stayin Alive's horribly remixed Hip-Hop version playing in the background.
And then they die. Leaving behind 'The Other Guys'.
The Police Department now boasts of two clumsy underachievers(Will Ferrel as Allen Gamble, and Mark Wahlberg as Terry Hoitz) who are the butt of jokes , and report to a boss with an O.C.D(Michael Keaton).
Underachievers turns underdogs, and begin the pursuit of glory. Except that they are still clumsy and have only each other to fall back on- 'Partner Code' they call it. Only Allen Gamble has it better- because he has an unsaid, unestablished something that draws women to him. For a guy as clumsy, old and weird to be married to someone as hot, attractive and committed as Sheila(Eva Mendes) doesn't quite make sense. Least of all, to Terry.( In his defence, no-one has really figured out the deal with attraction). They see a silver lining with multi-billionaire David Ershon(Steve Coogan), who Allen KNOWS is guilty of a scaffolding scandal.
Thus begins a wild goose chase which has our underdogs brave doubts(their own and of others), Ershon's goons, their past(Allen, back in college, was this guy who helped his female friends make money out of dating guys-Give me one word for it.) personal and professional setbacks, before they finally win and shake off being 'The Other Guys'. They had to win: because like most millionaires, Ershon's only comeback is bribes, which are in a class of their own. Allen and Terry's confrontations with him tell you more about them than anything else. If you are the kinds who feel constipated unless they know a film's message, let it be this: Its about how everyone is a potential superstar, more so, the unseen, unheard of guys who work behind the scenes.
The writers' wit and that of the actors' merges well enough to let you not think of the message though. Every frame is beautifully written, and Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg have you in splits with some epic lines(Sample:'I'm a peacock, I wanna fly'- which might just become the film's defining line). Just a thought though: I would have loved to see Jim Carrey in at least one of the two roles.
'The Other Guys' is to police departments what Scrubs is to medicine. Watch it by all means, and you might just feel better about going to work the next day. I didn't, but that's only because I watched it on a Saturday...;)view less
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