The Lego Movie

Even as a kid watching Toy Story, I was aware of what I was watching, of how truly good it was. As I've gotten older and revisited it while watching on my own, with my niece, with my cousins, I really appreciate what a great, innovative, unique, creative story it is. That's a stand-alone statement, a movie statement in a bubble. How else has it impacted movies? Animated movies haven't quite been the same ever since, Toy Story's influence especially seen in Wreck-It Ralph and most recently with 2014's The Lego Movie.

In the universe of the Lego, an ordinary construction worker, Emmet (Chris Pratt), has spent his whole life trying to be a part of the group. He wants to be liked. He wants to be accepted, and he likes his life -- rigid though it may be. One day after his shift on a construction site, Emmet sees something strange and rather than report it, he investigates. A mysterious, beautiful woman, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) is lurking around the construction site, and when he follows her, Emmet actually discovers a mythical object, the Piece of Resistance. His discovery leads Wyldstyle to believe that Emmet is the prophesied Special, the key to the resistance against President Business (Will Ferrell), seemingly a good president for Lego Land. Wyldstyle and a small group of Legos, the Master Builders, including their leader, Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), are fighting against President Business and now, Emmet could be the unwilling, unknowing key to it all.

When 'Lego' was released in February, I wanted to see it in theaters but just never got around to it. The reviews almost uniformly glowed, and audiences ate it up with a current box office total internationally of $467 million. And in the end, it is excellent. Lots of talent assembled to lend their voices to the story, a very unique jumping off point, and creative in the same way Toy Story and its sequels are. Director Phil Lord and Christopher Miller do something familiar and make it memorable. Yeah, some party poopers criticized the movie for being one huge advertisement for Lego, and to a point, I suppose that is fair. But this is a movie that's more than that. You think it is one thing, and it goes somewhere else, but that's all for now. Some quasi-spoilers later maybe.

Like the best, the most memorable animated movies -- whether the modern age of CGI or the old school drawn cartoons -- there's got to be something that sticks with you. Here with 'Lego' it's something special and unique that will sound almost stupid describing it. Yeah, it is a world of Legos. Duh, right? Obvious but innovative. When a building gets knocked down, you hear the thundering....clicks of all those pieces moving around. When a water tower collapses, little blue "water" pieces rush after characters. When Wyldstyle adjusts her hair, that hair moves in robotic fashion JUST LIKE a Lego piece would. It sounds dumb, but those little touches go a long way in providing some great moments, putting a smile on your face. 'Lego' is full of such moments, in jokes for adults while still providing some laughs for the kids in the audience. That's where the best animated movies reside, somewhere in between, good for adults and kids.

I loved the voice talents assembled here. Some are recognizable the second you hear them speak while others take some thinking on as the story develops. A rising star in Hollywood, Pratt throws himself into the body of Emmet, our not so intrepid construction worker who could save the Lego world...or maybe not if he chickens out. Banks too commits, having some fun as Wyldstyle, a fiery counter to Emmet's generally quiet, well, everything. Freeman has some fun as Vitruvius, the wise elder who seemingly knows everything and serves as a guide and mentor of sorts to Emmet. The other Master Builders who become part of the crew include a clueless Batman (scene-stealing Will Arnett), ever positive Unikitty (Community's Alison Brie), Benny (Charlie Day), a 1980s spaceman frustrated with modern Lego technology, and Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), a pirate mutant with all sorts of enhanced body parts. It's a fun crew with a lot of variety, a bizarre-o version of the men-on-a-mission formula.

But wait, there's more! I'm a big Will Ferrell fan so it's always cool to see him throw himself into a fun part like this. His Lord Business is a great villain, over the top and goofy and always ready with a laugh. His enforcer is an equally scene-stealing Liam Neeson as Good Cop/Bad Cop, able to twirl his head around within a conversation, an excellent site gag. There's plenty of other voices to listen for including Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as Superman and Green Lantern (desperately trying to be friends with Superman). Without giving too much away, also look/listen for Will Forte, Dave Franco, Shaquille O'Neal and a few others sprinkled in here and there. It's the randomness that works, especially when the Master Builders council is called, assembling all of the above with Shaq and the 2002 NBA All Stars, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a feuding Gandalf and Dumbledore, some historical heroes and then there's Emmett, a regular old construction worker.

So all well and good, right? And it is. It builds to something special here that as I look back on it is criminally straightforward. It feels weird saying this with an animated movie, but there's a heck of a twist in the final act that brings the movie together, even managing to take the entire movie up a notch or two. I LOVED this twist. It makes a good movie into a great one. There are hints along the way, but I wasn't expecting it at all. This is a smart, funny flick that delivers a message without being heavy-handed about it (We all have talents and skills. It's just a matter of finding your place with those talents). Also, it's funny in a self-conscious way, including two songs, Everything is Awesome by Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island -- listen HERE -- and my personal favorite, Batman's self-written theme of sorts (listen HERE), Arnett absolutely nailing it.

An easy movie to recommend.

The Lego Movie (2014): ***/**** 

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

So for anyone who lives under a rock, the sequel to 2004's Anchorman hit theaters recently, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, raking in some solid if not huge numbers. It's a daunting task making an unnecessary sequel that follows an original film that is considered by many -- myself as well -- to be a comedy classic. Oh, and it's been nine years since the original was released? This sequel isn't the most timely of follow-ups, but director Adam McKay and star and fellow writer Will Ferrell waited until they could devote the right amount of time to actually writing the follow-up. Is it worth seeking out? You bet.

Having left San Diego and Channel 4 behind him, legendary news anchor Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) is living the high life in New York City, co-anchoring the nightly news with his wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christine Applegate). Well, he was living the high life. Called in thinking he's getting a promotion to a national network, Ron finds himself out of a job when Veronica is promoted instead. He's in a bad place now only to receive another job offer, a new news station that will be on television 24 hours a day. Ron is able to assemble his old news team, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Champ Kind (David Koechner) and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), and heads to New York City to rebuild his reputation. The news world has changed though, and Ron and Co. must adjust. Can they manage it?

There are certain movies where plot descriptions are beyond unnecessary. This is one of them. Do you like Ron Burgundy? Did you like Anchorman? If you said yes to either of those questions, you're going to head out and see this movie, story be damned. Though a sequel had been rumored for years, it finally came to fruition this past year when McKay and Ferrell revealed they had been working on a script, really devoting the time that script deserved to get it to theaters. Some nine years since the original was released, this isn't the most timely of sequels, but it's one that audiences have been looking forward to. We've been carpet-bombed for several months now with ads and appearances from Ferrell as Burgundy, the movie even under-performing some in theaters. If you read nothing else from this review, read this. If you liked the original, you'll like this one. Is it as good? No, but that would be almost impossible to do.

Instead, it uses the similar formula while adding some new wrinkles to keep things fresh and funny. How do they manage? Well, as dumb as the humor may be at times, it's also got some really smart (and funny) moments. Assigned to the graveyard shift on the new 24-hours news network, Ron and the team start to think out of the box. What do audiences want to see? Praise for America, sports highlights of home runs, big touchdowns and ferocious slam dunks, footage of cute animals doing goofy things and anything and everything sexy. Yes, Ron Burgundy can see into the future. Surprise, surprise, the ratings go through the roof, audiences eating up the new approach to the news. There is a subtle smartness here, Ron insisting on more graphics on-screen, showing a car chase live on-air and guessing who's driving and what's going on, even a countdown of the greatest vaginas of the 20th Century. Okay, maybe they're not all smart, but they're funny.

My worry was that the cast would turn their characters into caricatures of themselves, even more so than they already are, but thankfully we avoid that. It's fun to see Ron's development as he starts to realize maybe he's not the great newscaster he thought he was. The story gets pretty ridiculous in terms of a character arc -- really going off the beaten track in the final act -- but above all else, it's for laughs. Single Ron is separated from his wife, but still wants to be close to his son, Walter (Judah Nelson), deals with Veronica's new boyfriend, Gary (Greg Kinnear), a psychiatrist he believes can read his mind, gets semi-controversial with an interracial relationship with his new boss (Meagan Good), plays some jazz flute while ice skating, and eventually, even must fight back from being blind. Yes, you read that right. It's ridiculous. The entire movie is. It commits to being both equal parts really stupid and really smart. Leading that charge is Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, again stealing the show.

The best moments have Ron and the reassembled news team up to their usual hijinks, providing the movie's funniest moments. Finding out what Brian, Champ and Brick have been up to is priceless, a recruiting montage providing some great laughs in a scene you'd expect out of a men on a mission movie, not a screwball comedy. The quartet just has impeccable chemistry, each of the three supporting players given their chance to shine. You like the characters, like their shenanigans and can't help but laughs. Also look for James Marsden as Jack Lime, an established star in the news world who goes up against Ron as a new co-worker, Kristen Wiig as Chani, a secretary at the new station who has a budding romance with the equally odd Brick, and even Harrison Ford (yes, Harrison Ford) as Mack Tannen, a legendary newscaster. It's a ridiculously talented comedic cast.

SPOILERS I'm going to mention a couple scenes here -- one more than the other -- that features some good surprises and twists as the movie develops. Stop reading if you don't want to know. SPOILERS Both scenes are updates of iconic scenes from the original, the first being Brian Fantana's epic collection of condoms, one explanation after another bringing the house down, a nice update on his Sex Panther scene. The highlight though is a ridiculously over the top update of the Newscaster Fight (watch it HERE). The star power is nuts, the ante upped in every way possible. Ron and his team must fight the BBC (Sacha Baron Cohen), entertainment reporters (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), ESPN (Will Smith), MTV (Kanye West), and the History Channel (Liam Neeson), accompanied by the ghost of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson (John C. Reilly). Oh, and Kirsten Dunst keys up the fight as the Maiden of the Clouds. And the Minotaur is fighting with the History Channel. It is truly nuts, completely ridiculous, and it works so, so well.

If there's a weakness here, it's that at 119 minutes, Anchorman 2 is a tad long. Some bits just work better than others. Ron and Co. driving in a Winnebago...well, cruise control driving, is inspired. A later montage of the team building up their new reputation is perfect, Ron and Brian at one point smoking crack on live TV. Other bits aren't as good. I'm looking at you Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig in some truly painful scenes. For the most part though, it works, one scene more nuts than the last. It's not on the level of the original, but it sure is funny. Enjoy it.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013): ***/****

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Oh, how time flies. I remember 2004 like it was yesterday, me a young college student enjoying everything about 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. One of the most quotable movies ever and one of my all-time favorite comedies in general, it's hard to believe it has been almost 10 years since the comedy's initial release. Rewatching it recently in preparation for its sequel (review coming), I had to go back and revisit it, see if it still holds up. Short answer? Yes.

It's the mid 1970s and no one in San Diego is a bigger star than Channel 4 anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell). An icon in the city and must-watch every time he's on the news, Ron is riding high, his news team, sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) ever at his side. The television ratings are high, the city loves them, and it seems no one can take them down. Well, that could change. Channel 4 has hired a new field reporter, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), who would like nothing more than to become the first female news anchor. Ron and the News Team are going to do their best to make sure she doesn't get to achieve her dream, but there's a catch. Ron really likes Veronica and Veronica really likes Ron. Uh-oh, I sense some late 1970s hijinks on the way.

I saw Anchorman in theaters upon its initial release and loved it. L-O-V-E-D it. From director Adam McKay, co-writing the script with good friend Ferrell, Anchorman is either loved or hated among viewers. You don't hear a lot of folks who came away just liking the movie, mildly enjoying it. It's pretty obvious why. The humor -- to say the least -- is the definition of random, pretty off the wall and while not filthy, low-brow certainly comes to mind. I tend to think there's a brilliance to the randomness here (and in the sequel), the twisted minds of Ferrell and McKay finding that perfect outlet to let out that craziness. A review listing the countless memorable scenes would be incredibly easy because there is one laugh out loud scene after another. It deserves its status as one of the best comedies ever, not to mention a status as one of the most quotable movies ever from Brick's "I love lamp" to Ron's explanation of the origin of the name San Diego and a whole lot of other lines in between.

The movie's epic success (in my eyes) begins and ends with Mr. Ferrell as legendary newsman Ron Burgundy. Thanks to Elf and Old School, Ferrell was a rising star in the comedy world making the jump from SNL to movies, but for me, this was the movie that put him on the A-list map officially and for good. Maybe you love the character, maybe you hate him, but Ferrell makes Ron Burgundy a truly memorable character. He's uber self-confident, a ladies man, a master player of jazz flute, a hard-drinker who favors scotch, epically proud of his perfectly coiffed hair, loves his little dog, Baxter, and knows more than anything else that he was born to READ THE NEWS! There's a certain idiotic charm to Burgundy, a man who is all sorts of confident, but he's really dumb too. That's the beauty of the character, the biggest doofus of all to lead a cast full of doofus characters. A great, truly funny part for Will Ferrell.

There really isn't a weakness in the entire cast. Applegate holds her own in the Boys Club, her Veronica wanting to make a legitimate name for herself, not just because people like her. The Channel 4 News Team is perfect, especially Rudd as the epically smooth ladies man and field reporter Brian Fantana. Koechner and Carell too help hold the group together, four freakishly dissimilar folks who bond through their love of the news, partying and carousing. Also look for Fred Willard as Channel 4's producer, Chris Parnell as his nerdy assistant, Seth Rogen as a cameraman, and Danny Trejo as an angry bartender.

There are certain moments here that rise above that same old, same old comedy formula. On top of the countless lines worth quoting, there are certain set pieces that take this comedy to a special place. One of my favorites? Rudd's Fantana revealing his hidden musk/scent display to Ron, especially the illegal Sex Panther (it's got bits of real panther so you know it's good), is ridiculously funny. Ron trying to impress Veronica on their date is priceless, both sitting in his car overlooking San Diego, Ron citing all sorts of "history" about the city. How they finally got a take without laughing I'll never know. There is no doubt about the best scene though, Ron and the Channel 4 News Team engaging in a brutal street fight with rival news teams. The cameos are priceless including Vince Vaughn as hate-filled Wes Mantooth, second in the ratings, Luke Wilson (3rd ranked), Tim Robbins (PBS) and Ben Stiller (Spanish). Words don't describe how stupid this scene is, and that's why it works. It works because it's stupid, it knows it, and it embraces the stupidity. Also look for Jack Black in a quick cameo earlier.

Maybe more than any genre, comedies are subjective because senses of humor can be so all over the place. This is that special kind of bizarre humor, but it works. How could a movie narrated by legendary newscaster Bill Kurtis not be good at least a little bit? Enough talking, it's a classic. Brace yourself for the laughs and lots of them. Stay tuned tomorrow for a review of the Anchorman sequel.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004): ****/****

The Internship

With their 2005 hit Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson made one of the best comedies of the 2000s. They charged the comedic genre with an R-rating vein, made a boatload of money and put its two stars right on the map, making them more than bankable. The weird thing? Both actors have struggled to find the right roles in the years since. The solution? Pair them up again with 2013's The Internship.

Longtime salesmen with the ability to sell just about anything, Billy McMahon (Vaughn) and Nick Campbell (Wilson) have been friends for years going back to high school. With the economy changing though, they find themselves without a job when the company they work for shuts its doors. Scrambling for what to do next, Billy finds a solution, enrolling them in the internship program at Google. What they find at the program is something they're just not used to, waves of 20-somethings who are wrapped up in themselves, technology and their phones. Can they adjust in time? All the interns are assigned to teams, Billy and Nick joining a team led by a fellow outcast, Lyle (Josh Brener), and three other nerd types. Only one team in the whole internship program can win in the end, the team being offered full-time positions with Google. Can the salesmen duo figure out what they're doing in time?

I'm a big fan of 2005's Wedding Crashers. Who isn't really? Communists I say!!! The formula here is simple for director Shawn Levy, reunite Vaughn and Wilson, give them a remotely interesting reason to be back together, and....no, wait. That's it. 'Internship' is an excuse to pair these two pretty funny guys together and let the hijinks begin. It has its fair share of issues, but my biggest complaint was that it plays like a giant advertisement for Google. Oh, look how quirky and cool Google is! It has a nap/rest room! It's got bikes painted with Google's signature colors?!? We hear lots of conversations about Gmail, Google Maps, Google Wallet, Google Plus and on and on. The Google jumping off point is solid/interesting enough (who doesn't use the search engine in one way or another?), but it gets to be too much eventually.

Beyond the original idea of two smooth dudes crashing weddings, the popularity of 'Crashers' came from the perfect pairing of Vaughn and Wilson. Their chemistry was impeccable, perfect, and carried the movie. Does it translate to this PG-13 comedy eight years later? Yeah, most definitely. That kind of chemistry doesn't just go away. Vaughn co-wrote the script with Jared Stern, giving himself and Wilson plenty of chances to riff and improvise and do those crazy rants that work so well. Even when they push it a little too much -- LAUGH!!! THIS IS FUNNY!!! -- their chemistry in all their scenes carries the movie through a sometimes sluggish 119-minute running time. Also look for John Goodman as the duo's longtime boss, Will Ferrell as Nick's brother-in-law and possible boss at a mattress store, and Rob Riggle as a salesman at a retirement home. Both Goodman and Ferrell's parts were uncredited.

That chemistry only goes so far unfortunately. The script wants to say a lot, and in general, the messages are actually pretty spot-on. The differences in generations is obvious, the younger 20-somethings growing up with technology in every single aspect of their lives. The generation before them is aware of the technology but not ingrained with it. With the way the world's heading, it's clearly leaning toward the younger generation. Ha, didn't think you'd get this sort of analysis in a review of The Internship, did you?!? What the script is saying is that the answer is somewhere in the middle; the personal relationships, the talking/conversations of the 40-year olds mixed with the tech-savvy younger kids. Seems fair if you ask me, but getting that message across comes out a little heavy-handed.

How you ask? Billy and Nick have to teach them how to live! I actually like the message that our over-reliance on technology is slowly killing society, but do the 40-somethings have to actually teach us that? In their team, we meet Lyle, nerdy in every way, a Google employee who wants to date his dance teacher (Jessica Szohr, yes, Google has dance teachers), phone-obsessed Stuart (Dylan O'Brien), Neha (Tiya Sircar), wildly experimental but really a virgin, and home-schooled Yo-Yo (Tobit Raphael). There's also Rose Byrne as Wilson's crush (yeah, didn't see that coming) and Google supervisor, Aasif Mandvi as Mr. Chetty, the internship program leader, Graham (Max Minghella), the brutal British intern, and Josh Gad as Headphones, an intern who wants to be left alone....seemingly.

I did like the movie a little more in the second half, the first half dragging. There are just too many instances where the movie is seemingly begging for the audience to laugh. The interview via webcam is painfully forced, a later sports montage at a Quidditch match just as forced, and some of the scenes where Vaughn and Wilson improvise are trying too hard. Disappointing because I liked parts of it, just not enough to fully recommend.

The Internship (2013): **/****

Elf

Everyone has their favorite Christmas movies, the movies you have to watch ever holiday season. It seems most of them aren't that recent -- Holiday Inn to White Christmas, Christmas Story to It's a Wonderful Life and many more -- but there are some recent entries that will no doubt be on that must-see list for years to come. Maybe the best new Christmas movie of the last 15 years or so, 2003's Elf.

While delivering toys around the world one Christmas Eve, Santa Clause (Ed Asner) accidentally picks up a return gift to the North Pole....a baby from an adoption center. No one knows what to do, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) choosing to care for the human baby as if it was his own. Years pass and the boy grows into a man, Buddy (Will Ferrell), who simply doesn't fit in with the rest of Santa's elves working at the North Pole. He doesn't quite realize it though that he's human, not an elf, and that's when Santa Clause and Papa Elf tell Buddy the truth about how he came to be one of Santa's Elves. Without a solution if he sticks around the North Pole, Buddy decides to travel to New York City where he can meet his real birth father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan) but there's a twist there too. Walter, a book publisher, is on the Naughty List!!! Can Buddy figure it all out though in the big, bad real world? He's going to have some fun either way.

I saw this Christmas flick soon after its release in 2003, only recently catching up with director Jon Favreau's flick recently as part of the holiday season. It is incredibly easy to see the appeal in this very sweet, very funny X-Mas comedy. 'Elf' treads that fine line between just plain dumb and dumb....but still really funny. Don't be confused, most if not all of the humor is pretty dumb, but everyone and everything commits to the goofiness, credit going to screenwriter David Berenbaum in that department. Smart or dumb, the message is the most important thing. This is a Christmas flick about just that, Christmas and the holiday spirit. Mixed in with Buddy's effort to find his family is Buddy's effort to help save Santa and Christmas during a New York City detour. It's the time of the season meant for family, fun, being together and believing. How can you go wrong with that sort of message no matter the package?

Now while I'm a big fan, I can appreciate that Will Ferrell's humor usually isn't for everyone. With movies like Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers to his name, I'll always be a fan. Not everyone likes his typically odd, off the wall and most importantly, random sense of humor. For those few folks who haven't seen Elf, it's without a doubt his most family friendly movie. His performance as Buddy takes the movie from really good and funny to really good, funny and near classic. It works because Ferrell absolutely and completely commits to the goofiness. Growing up in the North Pole, working with the Elves every year, Buddy doesn't have a mean bone in him. He's polite, ridiculously nice and naive to....well, everything. He looks at and experiences life in the most pleasant way possible, with pure, unadulterated GLEE. It's impossible not to like Ferrell's Buddy, a great lead character for this sweet story.

There's too many memorable, truly funny scenes to mention, but some definitely stand out from the rest. Buddy's arrival in New York City is priceless, the genuinely naive man-child no idea what he's stepped into. He hops across a Manhattan sidewalk like he's playing hopscotch. He eats gum hidden under rails like the used gum is hidden treasure. He spins in a door like it's a roller coaster, waving at a businessman hailing a cab because he thinks he's just waving, takes paper ads and handouts because it'd be rude not to, the list goes on. As I mentioned, Ferrell absolutely commits to the part. It never feels forced, just an actor going for the best laugh possible. There's plenty of other moments to mention -- Buddy unknowingly getting drunk and dancing in a mail room, realizing a department store Santa (Artie Lange) is an imposter -- and one funnier than the next. Up to you to pick your favorite.

Kudos to the entire cast for committing, especially James Caan as the curmudgeonly, greedy book publisher who doesn't quite believe Buddy could possible be his son. It's fun seeing Caan do a lighter role, and he plays an excellent straight man to Ferrell's Buddy and his antics. The same for Ed Asner and Bob Newhart as Santa and Papa Elf, Newhart especially standing out with his typically deadpan delivery with seemingly no emotion at all. Also look for Zooey Deschanel as Jovie, a woman Buddy meets at Gimbel's working as an elf and instantly likes, Mary Steenburgen as Walter's wife who wants her husband to not be such a Grinch, Daniel Tay as Michael, Walter's younger son and Buddy's half-brother, and Faizon Love as the Gimbel's manager who has to deal with Buddy and all his antics.

There's a certain style here that plays well in addition to the story. The North Pole looks animated, and when it is real, it's pretty clearly an indoor set with "snow" and everything. When Buddy leaves, he talks to cartoon whales, penguins, bears and an arctic puffin as well as a wise snowman who tells Buddy it will be okay. The visual look reminded me of the old Christmas TV specials like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It all adds up to a gem of a Christmas flick, one that's definitely worth watching every December.

Elf (2003): *** 1/2 /****

The Other Guys

When it comes to current comedic stars, I don't know if there's one that splits audiences so much as Will Ferrell does. Critics say he plays basically the same character in every movie, and to be fair it's not that far from the truth.  But it's a good character, typically a very funny one.  His movies have been hit or miss the last few years with some successes like Step Brothers and bombs like Land of the Lost.  I'm in the 'like' group so I'll basically see anything he's in.  Chugging along at the box office, The Other Guys is a bit of a departure for Ferrell, but in a good way.

It comes from one of the more reliable sub-genres you'll find in movies, the buddy cop movie.  Put two opposites together and let the fireworks begin.  The biggest selling point of 'Other' is that Ferrell doesn't play his typical dolt, and co-star Mark Wahlberg completely commits to being the straight man and gets a ton of laughs in the process. Is it particularly original? Not especially, but through all the cliches this buddy cop venture is funny from beginning to end.  And always important in a comedy, it's quotable with too many good lines to even mention.

In a New York Police Department precinct, unlikely detective partners Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) are in the shadow of other detectives all over the force.  Allen revels in routine and sticking around the office doing paperwork while Terry after an incident with an accidental shooting feels cooped up with nowhere to go.  Almost by accident, Allen and Terry stumble into a major case no one else seems interested in.  A mega-millionaire (Steve Coogan) is in trouble with his clients for losing billions of dollars in a shady business deal (think Madoff).  No one seems to believe these two cops no matter what they say, and it doesn't help that their bumbling technique often gets them in more trouble than necessary.  But something doesn't seem right as Gamble and Hoitz get deeper into the case.

Best starting point is Ferrell and Wahlberg who together have this great chemistry that produces some of the movie's biggest laughs.  Neither of them is hamming for the camera, just letting the lines and the delivery do all the work necessary.  Ferrell in comedies and Wahlberg typically in dramas are both talented guys and play well off each other.  Ferrell's Gamble has a "dark" past that has heavily influenced the way he acts, fearful of what might come out if he resorts to his old ways.  Wahlberg's Hoitz was involved in an accidental shooting (maybe the biggest, funniest surprise of the movie) and is still dealing with the repercussions.  So it's a good start in a comedy, the history is played for laughs as it rightfully should, but we actually get to see some of these two knuckleheads and their past.

Now on the other hand, they're just funny together.  Ferrell is clueless in a kind of adorable ignorance way as opposed to his usually oblivious moron who doesn't realize he's an oblivious moron.  Some of his line deliveries are beyond perfect, including one epic comeback to a threat from Wahlberg that goes on and on, getting better all the way.  Wahlberg was already one of my favorite actors and an ideal choice to play alongside Ferrell's toned down antics.  He's intense, on the edge, a little crazy as this great cop who made one mistake and is still paying for it.  Of course, he realizes this and lashes out -- in a funny way -- at everyone around him.  He sees things that he wishes were there (watch out! Colombian drug lords!) and ends up leaving a very positive impression by the end.

Director Adam McKay has a knack for getting the best out of his supporting cast, including a few surprises here and there. Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson are phenomenal in small parts as two super cops who are the pride of the NYPD. Michael Keaton plays Captain Gene, the captain of the precinct, a part incredibly subtle in its humor with one great running gag about him unknowingly quoting TLC songs as motivation/inspiration. Eva Mendes looking as beautiful as ever shows off her comedic chops as Sheila, Allen's smoking hot wife, and Coogan in an underused part as the slimy businessman up the creek and looking for cash.  Ray Stevenson plays the resident bad guy, necessary to look tough every so often. There's some great cameos, including one so perfect I can't ruin it, but NY Yankees fans shouldn't be disappointed.

Reviewing all sorts of movies here, it's nice every so often to just review a movie that's funny non-stop and entertaining with no higher pretensions.  The story just drifts along at times before focusing back on the important elements.  The action toward the end is ridiculous and over the top, the soundtrack sounds like a bad 1980s soundtrack, and there's just enough of a new spin on the buddy cop relationship to keep you guessing what's coming next.  Really though, check this one out for Ferrell and Wahlberg, a nearly perfect comedic team.

The Other Guys <---trailer (2010): ***/****