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The Other Guys Review

The Other Guys was really a mixed bag. The critical reviews seem to be strongly divided: most thought it was an outstanding movie, while a few thought that it was one of the worst things committed to film in recent history. I thought it fell somewhere between those two, with some truly brilliant moments but some pretty disastrous thuds as well.

First, the good: Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson were note-perfect parodying the over-the-top supercops that you would see in any 1980s action movie: they drive a cool car, destroy whole city blocks in the name of defending justice, and can escape outrageous situations without a scratch, all without doing a shred of paperwork. Mark Wahlberg and Michael Keaton were also excellent in their respective roles of Detective Terry Hoitz and Captain Gene Mauch, getting most of the movie's best lines.

Unfortunately, one of the movie's biggest draws - Will Ferrell as Detective Allen Gamble - was also one of the movie's weakest points. Gamble couldn't decided whether he wanted to be a naïve wannabe, a jerk, or a competent cop who just needed a chance to prove himself. The back-story, although amusing, didn't really help matters. He did get some funny lines, but they were usually reaction gags set up by other characters, and too often the jokes went way past "flat" and "tired" into "insulting the audience" territory.

Overall, there were more hits than misses, but not by much. If they had reined in Gamble a little bit (or picked a single personality to go with), it would have been brilliant. As it was, it was a decent matinee movie.

Collector/Modeler Interest:
Three classic Chevies appeared in the film: Jackson's pair of '71/'72 Chevelles, and Gamble's '67/'68 Camaro. All of them are available in both plastic and diecast, so you can take your pick.


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