"The Other Guys": Adam McKay's most conventional comedy to date

Adam McKay, an alum of Second City and Improv Olymipic, a founding member of the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and former SNL writer and the originator of the SNL Digital Short, had a bit of experience in comedy before his directorial debut feature, 2004's Anchorman.

McKay's regular partnering with Will Ferrell, combined with McKay's studies under improv legend Del Close, has often led to his films featuring frequent non-sequitur asides and running gags. All three of McKay's features, Will Ferrell vehicles Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers, contain constant improvisations and tangents unrelated to the plot at hand, which does manage to stock his films with laughs but also makes them feel incredibly disjointed and loose compared to most other mainstream comedies. This style is in part thanks to McKay's famous tendency to overshoot, hence the DVD special “Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie,” which is comprised almost entirely of alternate takes and deleted scenes from Anchorman.

On first seeing the trailer for The Other Guys several months ago, it seemed clear that McKay wasn't going to stray too far from his usual playbook. Ferrell and Wahlberg star as two NYC desk cops who struggle to fill the shoes of star officers Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, who are taken out of action. Their only way to shine above rivals Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr is to catch Steve Coogan, a ponzi-scheme financier. Bombshell Eva Mendes surprised me with her comic chops as Ferrell's unlikely wife, and Michael Keaton was perfectly cast as the department's moonlighting captain with curious musical allusions.

Much of the laughs come from parodying cop movie tropes, most amusingly when Ferrell and Wahlberg get knocked over by an explosion.

In fact, The Other Guys rarely drifts far from playing with the cop and detective thriller cliches viewers are constantly bombarded with* and as a result, it feels like a much more focused comedy than previous Ferrell/McKay collaborations. Even though we already know what's going to happen throughout the film, McKay's awareness of the genre he's working with manages to keep the comedic beats intelligently surprising, and most importantly, consistently funny.

TOO MUCH: The film feels pretty lean, even though it clocks in at just over 1:40. Anyone complaining about too-long chase scenes or comedic bits probably doesn't appreciate, or have the patience for, the genre satire at play.

COULD HAVE USED MORE: Dare I say it, a little more improv from Ferrell, who was surprisingly reserved throughout the film.

FILM SNOB NOTE: a running gag about driving to the right pump up music** echoes the 1999 almost-cult hit Three Kings, wherein Wahlberg's fellow soldiers drive into battle listening to Chicago's “If You Leave Me Now.” A mini-theatrical spot for The Other Guys featured Ferrell and Wahlberg suspended from wires in the pose from the poster; a similar bit promoting Step Brothers featured Ferrell and costar John C. Reilly in a "living poster."

IHYFM RATING: FOUR out of FIVE MEHS. Is it a timeless comedy? Certainly not. Did it deliver a consistent stream of unpredictable laughs? Sure did.

IF YOU SAID THIS WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE, I'D THINK: I won't deny you when you tell me Gator needs his gat.

*Like the ones that could very well sink this fall's star-studded yet tragically titled thriller The Town.

**Ferrell claims the best is Little River Band.

"Step Brothers": straddling the line of comic genius and criminal insanity

As avid readers may recall, my inaugural post discussed the merits of my taste. Four years of critical film studies molded an already discerning eye for quality entertainment. I can tell you why "Zodiac" is one of the most under-appreciated films of the past decade, and likewise why "Crash" was horrendously overrated (offense #1 - Don Cheadle says the word "crash" in the first fucking line of the movie).

Even though this film-goer has keen judgement on what is and isn't worthwhile, he is still human. And as he has admitted in the past, for reasons he doesn't fully understand, he couldn't help but enjoy the Will Ferrell-John C Reilly vehicle "Step Brothers".

The plot is simple, to the point of almost being non-existent. Divorcee Mary "She's Married to Ted Danson!" Steenburgen and widower Richard "He's the Gym Manager in Burn After Reading!" Jenkins fall for each other and have a horrifying trait in common - they both have unemployed 40-year-old sons that live at home. True to producer Judd Apatow's typical fare, these are not your typical unemployed men. These are men-children in the most basic sense of the term. They look 40, they act 12. After their parents try to get them to grow up by forcing them out of the house and into the workforce, it's like watching toddlers dress up in daddy's shoes. It's not convincing, but it's cute. Aside from cute, it's also ridiculously absurd. Take, for one of many, many examples, a scene just after Ferrell and Reilly realize that instead of enemies, they are best friends:

This is the basic flow of the entire movie - a one-note joke that hovers just above the line of utter stupidity when it's not exploring its depths. The plot is so loose that on one DVD edition there are almost 20 minutes of deleted scenes; knowing Adam McKay's free-wheeling style of directing and Will Ferrell and John C Reilly's propensity to improvise on set, I would wager there was enough extra footage to make another entire film.

It's plotless. It's inane. And, I have to admit, I think it's pretty damned hilarious.

To make this affectation all the more puzzling, I don't really care for the other Adam McKay films "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights". Although I rather enjoyed him as a cast member on SNL, most Will Ferrell movies have left me cold, the only exceptions being "Elf" and the slightly uneven "Stranger Than Fiction".

After a great deal of reflection, the best conclusion I can come to is that the movie hinges on John C Reilly's ability to play naive and innocent. Will Ferrell also plays the dumb man-child that doesn't know any better, but he does it with an underlying hint of brat that is at times put-offish. Watch the bunk bed scene again, and really soak in how pure and stupid Reilly is. I'll even embed it for you again.

Reilly nails the Tom-Hanks-in-"Big"/boy-in-a-man's-body gag, which makes watching him sleep walk, get intimidated by the neighborhood bullies, and get laid for the first time all the more enjoyable. I would go into more detail of Ferrell and Reilly's exploits, but to do so would ruin the viewing experience, inasmuch the movie is little more than a series of loosely connected vignettes.

This movie is strange. This movie is asinine. This movie makes me laugh.

TOO MUCH: In a movie filled with non-sequitur gags, this category is kind of moot.

COULD HAVE USED MORE: This one is too. The "best friends" montage (to Hall and Oates' catchy "You Make My Dreams") and "growing up" montage are just the right length.

FILM SNOB NOTE: I was pleasantly surprised to see Adam Scott in a hilarious role as Ferrell's overachieving younger brother. I met him when he was on an audition right after his break on "The Aviator", and I was impressed by how personable and humble he was, and had no idea he had such great chops for comedy. His first scene in the movie, where his family performs an a capella rendition of "Sweet Child of Mine", is hysterical. Several sequences of the film might as well be titled "Spot the Alums of Famous Sketch Troupes", including helmer Adam McKay. Before "I'm On A Boat", there was "Boats 'N' Hoes". Ferrell's Italian in his Andrea Bocelli cover is complete gibberish. Prosthetic balls aren't cheap.

IHYFM RATING: THREE AND A HALF out of FIVE MEHS. I can't say this is a must-see, but if you like comedies and laughed at the above clip, you might like it.

IF YOU SAID THIS WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE, I'D THINK: We should do our taxes together with our Chewbacca masks, even if they're not movie-quality.