I love films of all genres, regardless of how old they are. The Other Guys looked like a decent enough film. But watching The Other Guys was like watching a movie like The Bounty Hunter, the funny bits were actually shown in the trailers and previews. Don't get me wrong, The Other Guys does start off very well. The first fifteen minutes are quite funny, with an entertaining turn from Samuel L.Jackson. After that, it goes clunk, just like that, which is a real shame because I really wanted to like it.

For me, a major part of the problem was Will Ferrell. While I am not a fan of his acting/shtick, I don't hate him or see him as a spawn of Satan or something or other. That said, he can be good especially in Anchorman and Stranger than Fiction, and Megamind was much better than expected too. However, Ferrell just isn't funny in The Other Guys. His acting here consists of a shtick(acting like a total wimp) that I have seen many times before and better. To make things worse, this shtick wasn't funny in the slightest, well actually it was for about three or so times but after that it got repetitive and tiresome.

His co-star Mark Wahlberg thankfully fares a little better. His style of acting is more understated, and he did get one or two laughs from me. That in mind, Wahlberg was so understated he also verged on rather dull too and then there are some instances where he is actually annoying. He and Ferrell have no chemistry whatsoever, which alone ruined the movie, as a good buddy movie is sunk without a decent enough chemistry between the leads. The supporting cast are talented, Jackson does come off best, but Eva Mendes looks beautiful but has little to do other than act sexy and vapid and Michael Keaton who does have a knack of stealing the show when he is good is wasted.

Another major part of the problem is the film's focus. There are times when it wants to be a comedy, then there are times and in sudden changes of shifts too when it strives to be an action-thriller-like film. It is really sad though that neither of these elements are done very well at all. The comedy is pretty much wretched, not just in the predictable gags but also in the terrible script, while the action is tedious.

The plot is yet another disservice. It is a badly paced(the middle especially is too slow and full of awkward pauses) and derivative plot with few exciting or original moments to savour. And did I mention it was predictable as well. The direction is poor too, focuses too much on Ferrell and not enough on making a good enough script and story. It isn't just the story, direction or script that wastes the cast, there is also the way the characters are written. To be honest I hated every single one of them. All of them were clichéd, shallow and under-developed.

Then there is the style of filming. The location work is quite nice, quite beguiling scenery and lighting, but the cinematography feels rushed and the film could have done with better editing, in other words editing that flowed much better into succeeding scenes. I personally found the soundtrack rather generic and boring, and I also thought it didn't fit much with the movie or its tone. The ending also epitomises how much downhill The Other Guys went after the beginning.

Overall, I am sorry to say this, but The Other Guys was a mess. Although I saw it just recently, it is one of my least favourites of the year, in fact in my opinion only Fred:The Movie in 2010 was worse. 1/10 Bethany Cox

The Other Guys in this film are Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, a pair of NYC detectives who have gotten really far off the fast track in terms of career mobility. Wahlberg while on security duty at Yankee Stadium shot Derek Jeter mistaking him for a an unauthorized prowler, nobody's letting him live that down though I'm sure in Wahlberg's native Boston people were going to name children after him. As for Ferrell he worked before in the highly unglamorous forensic accounting division and one with computer knowledge can gain a detective's shield there. Being a true bureaucrat at heart he delights in doing the paperwork for the other detectives in the squad.

But these two mismatched partners or at least Ferrell given his background get the scent of a massive defrauding scheme when they spot a Bernie Madoff type tycoon being kidnapped. Later on it's denied and the tycoon played by Steve Coogan shows up all hale and hearty and in a forgiving, but put out mood. The more they pursue this, the more warnings they get to back off, some of them real direct like a bomb going off at a mall account's office in New Jersey.

Still our heroes persist and in the end the case will make them the hero of every cop in New York City. More I cannot say, but it will make up for shooting the Yankee captain.

Ferrell is funny as always and Wahlberg has done comedy before and done it well. Eva Mendes is Mrs. Ferrell and it bugs Wahlberg no end how such a nerdy guy like Ferrell can land Eva Mendes as a life partner. Let's say that he's got a lot in his background as well, not typical for an accountant, but in a former line of work Ferrell was in you have to keep good accounts as well.

Nice location cinematography in New York make The Other Guys something to enjoy and realize that heroes can come from the oddest places.

P.K. Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Christopher Danson (Dwayne Johnson) are the best action hero rock star cops in the NYPD. They get into outlandish chases for nothing arrests. Everybody loves them. Martin (Rob Riggle) and Fosse (Damon Wayans Jr.) are the jokers. Captain Gene Mauch (Michael Keaton) is in charge. Then there are the Other Guys. Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) is a naive paper pusher. His partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) is still trying to make up for shooting Derek Jeter. Gamble is eager to do paperwork for the heroes and Hoitz hates him for it. Highsmith and Danson finally kill themselves stupidly in a chase. Everybody wants to be the next hero cops. Hoitz forces Gamble to take on a high profile case. David Ershon (Steve Coogan) is an investment banker who lost $32 billion of Pamela Boardman (Anne Heche)'s fund. She demands that he replace the losses and he tries to go on the run. Gamble arrests Ershon on a scaffolding permit violation but a professional team takes him. On the personal side, Hoitz can't believe that Gamble is married to Sheila (Eva Mendes).

I would have loved a buddy cop movie with Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. This is just as good in a completely different way. Ferrell is hilarious and Wahlberg is the perfect angry foil. The fighting partners have great chemistry. The angrier Wahlberg gets, the funnier the movie gets. Adam McKay has a great sense of the ridiculous. The story is stupid. The setups are insane. The dialog is hilarious. There are some gut busting laughs.