The Other Guys is a 2010 action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan,
Ray Stevenson, Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson.
This film is the fourth of five collaborations between Ferrell and McKay, following Anchorman:
The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers,
and followed by Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
The Other Guys is the only one not to be co-written by Ferrell.
Plot Detective Allen Gamble is a mild-mannered
forensic accountant.
Hot-tempered detective Terry Hoitz has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since
he mistakenly shot Derek Jeter during the World Series.
Allen and Terry often receive no respect from the other officers, particularly detectives
Martin and Fosse.
Allen and all the policemen at the precinct idolize cocky detectives Chris Danson and
P.K.
Highsmith, who are considered the city's best policemen even though they frequently cause
millions of dollars in property damage catching petty criminals.
During a pursuit of a group of jewelry robbers, Danson and Highsmith leap to their deaths
after agreeing to "aim for the bushes" twenty stories below and across the street.
The camera shows them on track to make their jump, before panning to reveal that they're
falling straight to the sidewalk below, leaving almost everyone wondering why they did it
- and who's next to take their place.
Allen and Terry begin to investigate a scaffolding permit violation by multi-billionaire David
Ershon, but wind up uncovering a much bigger plot by Ershon to cover his losses to his
client Lendl Global.
Lendl CEO Pamela Boardman hires a team of mercenaries led by Roger Wesley to make sure
Ershon pays her back, and to make sure no one stops him from doing so.
During their investigation, Allen confides in Terry about his college life running a
dating service under the guise of "Gator," adamantly refuting Terry's accusation that
he was a pimp.
When his life spiraled out of control, he was sent to the hospital where he met his
future wife Sheila, and he promised Sheila that he would never get out of control again.
However, while having dinner one night with Sheila, she tells Allen that she's pregnant,
causing Allen's old dark personality to re-emerge.
In an upset fury, she kicks him out of the house.
Meanwhile, Terry tries and fails to reconnect with his ex-fiance Francine, who walked out
on him due to his temper tantrums and reckless behavior.
Their investigation comes to a halt when Ershon's attorney Don Beaman learns of his plan to
cover his losses, leading Wesley to kill him and make it look like a suicide.
Angered at their lack of progress, Capt.
Gene Mauch splits up Allen and Terry, sending Terry to traffic duty and Allen to beat patrol.
Despite Terry's anger at him and his personal life, Allen still tries to solve the crime
on his own and after learning that the jewelry robbery that Danson and Highsmith died over
was staged so that Wesley and his team could break into an accounting firm next door, he
finally gets credible evidence and earns his gun back from Mauch.
Allen then convinces Terry to rejoin him.
They meet Capt.
Mauch at Bed Bath & Beyond, his second job, where the police captain admits he has been
holding off on the case because Ershon has high-profile connections that could ruin him,
and he allows them to finish the case off-the-books.
They go to an investment meeting Ershon is having and realize that the $32 billion Ershon
seeks is really coming from the New York Police Department pension fund.
They escape with Ershon to his private apartment, and Ershon tells them that the money for the
pension fund is already in his account, ready to be transferred.
Later that night, Allen and Terry finally reconcile with their loved ones.
Allen apologizes to Sheila and she welcomes her husband back.
Terry also apologizes to Francine for letting his anger rule his life.
The next morning, they drive to the bank to stop the transfer, evading Wesley's team,
groups of Chechen and Nigerian investors to whom Ershon owes money, and police officers
who are told Allen and Terry have gone rogue.
They reach the bank and halt the transfer.
Wesley arrives and as a delaying tactic, shoots both officers and Ershon in their arms.
Mauch finally arrives with police backup, rescuing the two and arresting Ershon for
his embezzlement, and Wesley for multiple counts of murder.
Ershon's arrest leads to a stock market crash and the subsequent federal bailout of Lendl
Global.
Terry finally gets married to Francine, and although he asked Sheila to be his best man,
she declined.
Sheila is happily back with her husband.
The narrator finishes off stating that the true heroes are the everyday people who work
to make a difference, not the ones who appear in the newspaper or on TV and a peacock flying
by.
Cast
Cameos
Production The end credits are accompanied by a series
of visual displays of the magnitudes, methods, and principal actors of various licit and
illicit financial doings of the financial crisis, such as the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme,
Goldman Sachs, AIG or the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Principal photography for the film began on September 23, 2009 in New York City, with
additional scenes filmed in Albany and Staten Island, New York.
Practical visual effects work, including the helicopter crash scene, was done by KernerFX.
Stunt coordinator Brad Martin said in a Wall Street Journal interview that for Gamble's
car they used three Priuses, including one with a racing engine so large it had to go
in the back seat.
Promotion
In July 2010, both Wahlberg and Ferrell appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International to
promote their film.
During an episode of Big Brother, the house guests competed in a luxury challenge to see
an advance screening of the film.
Although they weren't actually in the house, both Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg made an
on-screen video appearance.
During the August 4, 2010 episode of America's Got Talent, the week's contestants saw an
advance screening of the film and got to meet both Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.
Ferrell and Wahlberg also made a cameo appearance on an episode of WWE Raw to promote the film.
During the week leading up to the release date, the film was promoted on TruTV programs,
specifically The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest....
During the Season 2 premier for the MTV reality series Jersey Shore on July 29, 2010, special
segments were shown during the commercial breaks of the show's cast broken down on a
highway, discussing several movies, as part of a promotional tie-in; with The Other Guys
being one of them.
They appeared in on screen advertising on broadcast sports events like MLB and NASCAR.
Reception Box office
In its first day of release, The Other Guys grossed $13,124,233, placing first for Friday.
It had a large opening weekend take of $35,543,162, placing it at #1 for the weekend of August
6–8, 2010, unseating Inception.
The film ended up grossing $119,219,978 in North America and $51,212,949 internationally,
making for a total $222,914,481.
Critical response The Other Guys received positive reviews from
critics, garnering a 79% "Certified Fresh" rating from critics on review aggregator Rotten
Tomatoes the consensus being "While not the best collaboration between Will Ferrell and
Adam Mckay, The Other Guys delivers bursts of comedy during a summer devoid of laughs."
It has been called "a highly entertaining movie filled with witty dialogue and over-the-top
action."
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised the film, saying, "Don't let anyone spoil the
wildly hilarious surprises.
Ferrell and Wahlberg will double your fun.
Guaranteed."
Some critics praised The Other Guys as the best police film of the year, comparing the
film to the critically panned Cop Out, with Richard Roeper stating, "Note to Kevin Smith:
THIS is how you do a spoof of the buddy-cop genre," and Stephen Whitty of The Star-Ledger
said in his mixed review, "Measured against this year's other police farce -- remember
Cop Out?
-- it looks absolutely heroic."
The film has also been praised as "a brilliant demonstration of the kind of corruption inherent
to our present financial markets."
"[T]he incredibly close relationship Wall Street has with federal-government regulators"
is "a subject interwoven throughout the film."
Critics have noted that "the aspect of big business and government regulators in cahoots
with each other dominates as a constant theme," and that "[f]or a comedy movie, The Other
Guys is a shining example of the kind of problems that plague our current financial system."
The Other Guys also received the "Best Comedy Film" award for 2010 at the first annual Comedy
Awards.
Accolades 2010 Comedy Awards
Best Comedy Film Best Comedy Actor Film - Will Ferrell
Best Comedy Director Film - Adam McKay 2011 Teen Choice Awards
Choice Movie-Comedy Choice Movie Actor-Comedy - Will Ferrell
Choice Movie Actress-Comedy - Eva Mendes Choice Movie Chemistry - Will Ferrell and
Mark Wahlberg Choice Movie Hissy Fit - Mark Wahlberg
Sequel In the extended DVD edition, the film concludes
with a second cameo appearance by Jeter, disguised as a homeless man, who hands Terry and Allen
a manilla folder containing details on "their next case," providing a set-up for a sequel.
Director Adam McKay stated in an interview with MTV that if the film does a good job
at the box office and a fanbase grows, then a sequel could be possible.
See also Buddy cop film
Ponzi scheme References
External links Official website
The Other Guys at the Internet Movie Database The Other Guys at AllMovie
The Other Guys at Box Office Mojo The Other Guys at Rotten Tomatoes
The Other Guys at Metacritic The Other Guys - The Arts Desk - Arts Reviews,
Features and News