Hilarious! When you have writer/director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell collaborating with each other, you know you’re in for a good time. “The Other Guys” kept me laughing from beginning to end and now I’m hoping for a sequel! If you enjoyed “Anchorman” or “Taladega Nights”, you’ll love “The Other Guys”!
© 2010 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2010
DURATION: 107 Minutes (Theatrical Edition), 116 Minutes (Unrated Edition)
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English, French, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Audio Desription Track Dolby Surround, Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Hindi
COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: RATED PG-13 (For Crude and Sexual Content Language, Violence and Some Drug Material)
Release Date: December 14, 2010
Directed by Adam McKay
Written by Adam McKay and Chris Henchy
Produced by Patrick Crowley, Jimmy Miller
Executive Producer: Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy, David B. Householter, Adam McKay, Rizelle Mendoza, Kevin J. Messick
Co-Producer: Joshua Church, Jessica Elbaum
Music by Jon Brion
Cinematography by Oliver Wood
Edited by Brent White
Casting by Jennifer Euston, Allison Jones
Production Design by Clayton Hartley
Art Direction by Jim Gloster
Set Decoration by George DeTitta Jr.
Costume Design by Carol Ramsey
Starring:
Will Ferrell as Allen Gamble
Mark Wahlberg as Terry Hoitz
Michael Keaton as Captain Gene Mauch
Derek Jeter as himself
Samuel L. Jackson as P.K. Highsmith
Dwayne Johnson as Christopher Danson
Eva Mendes as Dr. Sheila Gamble
Damon Wayans Jr. as Fosse
Rob Riggle as Martin
Steve Coogan as David Ershon
Misfit NYPD detectives Gamble and Hoitz (Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg) are sentenced to life behind the desk. They hate each other and the monotony of their meaningless jobs, as they’re forced to live in the shadow of the two biggest and most badass cops on the force (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson). But when those guys go down for the count, opportunity knocks for Gamble and Hoitz. Stumbling onto what could be one of the biggest crimes in years, can The Other Guys step up their game to solve the case without killing each other and destroying NYC in the process? From the director of Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Crash and Burn! – Splat and Die
Crash and Burn! – The Gauntlet
Wasn’t That??? – An Odd Couple
Wasn’t That??? – Dr. Sheila Gamble
Hilarious, ridiculous but when it comes to Adam McKay and Will Ferrell films, you know what to expect….and that’s to laugh and see how ridiculous they will go!
In 2010, Will Ferrell and director/writer Adam McKay have teamed up again, after comedy hits such as “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”, “Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (and both having worked at “Saturday Night Live”) are back with a comedy titled “The Other Guys”. The film is co-written with Chris Henchy (“Land of the Lost”, “Spin City”), featuring cinematographer Oliver Wood (“The Bourne Identity” films, “Face/Off”, “Fantastic Four”) and music by Jon Brion (“Step Brothers”, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Magnolia”).
The summer film took the #1 spot from “Inception” in the box office and brought in over $168 million and it helps that the film received nearly 80% of positive reviews from film critics. If anything, if you want to spoof the buddy-cop film genre, “The Other Guys”delivers in insanity, gags and all out entertainment. Now, “The Other Guys” receives its Blu-ray and DVD release on December 14th. The Blu-ray release “The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition” features the original theatrical release and an unrated version with nine additional minutes.
“The Other Guys” revolves around two police officers, Detective Allen Gamble (played by Will Ferrell) and Detective Terry Hoitz (played by Mark Wahlberg). For Allen, he is quite fine sitting behind his desk working on the precinct’s forensic accounting, while Terry just wants a chance to take on a big case and because of a botched job in which he accidentally shot New York Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter in game 7 of the World Series and eventually ending the Yankees world series hopes. Since then, he has become a hated man in New York known as “The Yankee Clipper” and is relegated to doing office work. To make things worse…he dislikes his partner Allen more than anything.
Allen is a guy who loves to play it safe. Never has done any major police work but only forensic accounting and it sickens Terry who wants to be a cop and dealing with action like Danson and Highsmith, the most well-known police duo in New York City.
Detectives Christopher Danson (played by Dwayne Johnson) and Detective PK Highsmith (played by Samuel L. Jackson) are the hottest police duo in New York City. Taking down criminals and despite the amount of destruction they cause in the city, they are well loved.
Most of the police officers would love the attention that Danson and Highsmith gets as the two men are so popular that the officers do their paperwork and for the sake of the precinct, they have to partake in handling all the women that they can.
But on one fatal day, as Detectives Danson and Highsmith were pursuing robbers. For some reason, the two thought they could jump off a building and land on their feet and catch the criminals but instead, they killed themselves.
So, now “the other guys” in the precinct see this as an opportunity to be the next big thing in New York City. And for Terry, he feels this is his chance for him and Allen to get away from their desk jobs and show they can take on major cases.
Meanwhile, multi-billionaire David Ershon (played by Steve Coogan) has lost $32 billion for a client, Lendl Global and now, to cover the losses, he has come up with a scheme to bulk someone of their money and funnel it back to those he owes money to. But to make sure he does find a way to recoup the money, the corporation has put three of their highly trained agents to accompany Ershon wherever he goes.
Back at the precinct, Detectives Evan Martin (played by Ron Riggle) and Detective Fosse (played by Damon Wayans, Jr.) have now geared up to become the replacements of Danson and Highsmith and both constantly tease Allen and Terry. So, bad that Martin and Fosse convince Allen that its a ritual to shoot your gun in the office (in which Allen does). Because of the mistake, Captain Gene Mauch (played by Michael Keaton) has taken Allen’s gun away and gives him a wooden gun.
When the radio shows signs of trouble in New York, both detective groups try to get to the scene first. Unfortunately, Terry’s anger gets the best of Allen and they arrive to the crime scene with Allen accidentally running over the deceased bodies. Once again, both are relegated back to their desk doing office work which infuriates Terry.
Terry tries to find a way out of the office and convinces Allen that they need to go out and bust a man who hasn’t paid his scaffolding permit. Sure enough, the man happens to be the multi-billionaire David Ershon who tells the two detectives to keep them away from the three people chasing after them.
Unfortunately, both Allen and Terry don’t get far as the three people get Ershon back but also taking their weapons, their shoes and Allen’s vehicle. The two know that this will look bad to the Captain. And sure enough, when they get back to the office, news of their blunder has hit the Internet and media and the two become the laughing stock of precinct.
As for Ershon, they find out that the leader of the three individuals who took their weapons, shoes and vehicle is there and that they are agents hired to work with Ershon and the police have to keep out of their work. The Captain reinforces it to both Allen and Terry to not pursue Ershon any further.
But both Allen and Terry remember that Ershon told them to keep them away from him and believe that there is some major trouble going on and they need to uncover it. And if they do, they will no longer be the laughing stock of the precinct and get the respect that they deserve.
So, these two very different individuals must work together, despite their differences.
It’s interesting to note that ICE-T is the narrator of the film, Eva Mendes plays the role of Dr. Sheila Ramos Gamble, the hot wife of Detective Allen Gamble who Allen calls plain, while Terry can’t understand how Allen attracts the hottest women. Also, having cameos in the film are Brooke Shields, Rosie Perez, Tracy Morgan and Anne Heche.
VIDEO:
“The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1). As usual, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment gives us a wonderful picture quality featuring plenty of detail, dark blacks and wonderful colors. First, let’s talk about the detail…impressive. You’ll see the skin pores on Will Ferrell’s face, you will see how New York City’s detail is captured remarkably well in HD. Even the dents, bullet holes and broken windshield… Images are sharp, colors are vibrant and I detected no banding, artifacts or edge enhancement. PQ for “The Other Guys” is awesome!
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition” is presented in English, French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Also included is an English audio description track in Dolby Surround.
“The Other Guys” sounds absolutely awesome via lossless. The film has its fair share of action sequences, car chases, explosions and plenty of cars crashing, gun shots, glass crashing and the sound effects sound great as it comes from the surround channels. Action sequences, although numerous, the film tends to take its break from the action scenes while focusing on the comedic dialogue. Dialogue and music is clear through the center and front channels. As for LFE, there is a good amount of bass bumping courtesy of the hip hop music soundtrack throughout the film.
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Hindi.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition” comes with the following special features in High Definition in English Stereo with subtitles in English, Portuguese and Spanish:
- “Pimps Don’t Cry” music video – (3:50) A Funny or Die music video with Eva Mendes with Cee-Lo Green.
- Extreme Close Up – (5:17) Interviews on the set with the cast and director of “The Other Guys”extremely close up (literally).
- Everyone Hates The DVD Guy – (4:47) The cast and crew showing their distaste towards the DVD Guy (who is videotaping the crew during their off-time moments).
- Lendl Global Commercial – (:36) A commercial for Lendl Global.
- Bed Bath and Way Beyond – (4:06) Adam McKay talks about working with Michael Keaton. Michael talks about the Bed, Bath and Beyond scene.
- Play with Added Footage Marker – Featuring a marker that shows up to notify a user when there is an extended scene.
- movieIQ – While watching the film, if your Blu-ray is connected to the Internet, you can pull up information on the film via movieIQ.
- The “Mom”-mentary- Unrated Version – Featuring audio commentary for the unrated version by Sarah McKay (mother of director Adam McKay), Kay Ferrell (mother of Will Ferrell) and Pat Hench (mother of co-writer Chris Hench). The three talk about what they enjoyed about the film, what the talents remind them of and more.
- The “Mom”-mentary – Featuring audio commentary for the original theatrical version by Sarah McKay (mother of director Adam McKay), Kay Ferrell (mother of Will Ferrell) and Pat Hench (mother of co-writer Chris Hench). The three talk about what they enjoyed about the film, what the talents remind them of and more.
- Line-O-Rama – (8:56) Featuring the various improvisational scenes not used in the final cut of the film.
- Gag Reel – (6:17) Featuring bloopers/outtakes from the film.
- Deleted & Extended Scenes – (30:24) Featuring 18 deleted and extended scenes plus an alternated ending.
- Flashforwards – (1:44) An extended scene of an older couple, Donald Trump, Paris Hilton and others various characters who’s lives were affected by the detectives (on the film).
- Alternate Action – (2:41) Alternative action scenes feat. Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson.
- Wasn’t That??? – (15:00) Adam McKay talks about working with the cast, working with Derek Jeter and more.
- Crash and Burn! – (10:06) The cast talk about working on an action comedy film.
- Why Are There Brits In This Movie? – (6:41) Adam McKay talks about the casting of Steve Coogan and respecting the British actor who may not understand how to work in the U.S.. Steve Coogan talks about working with Director Adam McKay and McKay’s fascination with porn.
- Rob Riggle Likes To Party – (2:32) Rob Riggle talks about his way of partying and the validity of verbal contracts.
- We Shouldn’t Kiss Chicken – (1:16) Chris Hench talks about the rules of kissing chicken (attempted kissing) and who buckles first.
- Mark Wahlberg’s Eating Contest Entourage – (3:33) Mark Wahlberg talks about working with “Nacho Libre”, the extreme eater and how they knew each other when they were kids.
EXTRAS:
“The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition” comes with a slip cover case and comes with a DVD/digital copy of the film.
If there is one thing I have learned with films with Will Ferrell, especially when he’s working with Adam McKay, if you love comedy, especially moronic comedy…just sit back and enjoy the ride.
I know there are some people who detest Ferrell films, as well as other SNL alumni-related films and they are not for everybody. And as many of Will Ferrell’s films have had its up and downs in the box office, “The Other Guys” is one of those films that you can’t help but laugh, enjoy and just see how far these guys go with their insane story and improvisation.
There are so many buddy cop films out there, especially comedy and action-based films that have have made us laugh but “The Other Guys” is unlike any of those films. It’s unique comedy style is driven by how different this film is. For example, the main protagonists, Allan and Terry… these guys don’t get along. Allen, who is somewhat of an uber-nerd and unlikely cop has only dated hot women and his wife (played by Eva Mendes) is hot! And the two talk about their sexual nature as if it was no problem. But yet Allan keeps saying how his wife is so plain. And just seeing his partner Terry having his eyes fixated on Mendes’ breasts and when he goes to give her a kiss goodbye on the cheek, he tries to kiss her on the neck and that was so hilariously wrong, but it shows you the instability of Allan and Terry’s working relationship.
The fact that these two individuals are so different is what makes this comedy work. Yes, films like “Bad Boys” have two protagonist who are different but yet they back each other up and hang out despite their differences. With Allan and Terry, these guys are just so different and are literally oil and water, so seeing these two work together is just hilarious and fun. Especially when you get to know their backstory. The very quiet Allan, a former pimp? The very angry Terry once learned ballet and art? Unusual it may be, it works.
As for the Blu-ray release, “The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition” is a pretty solid Blu-ray release. Awesome PQ, very good AQ and over a 100 minutes of special features.
But it all comes down to your acceptance of these type of comedy films. Will Ferrell excels at self-deprecating humor while Mark Wahlberg was probably the actor people aren’t used to seeing in comedy films. Both are very different in the types of films they have done, but yet it works because in the film, they are different and despite their differences, they manage to work as a team. Personally, I want to see more of Detective Allen Gamble and Detective Terry Hoitz… As long as Director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell collaborate again, I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel.
Overall, if you have enjoyed Adam McKay/Will Ferrell films like”Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”, you’ll love “The Other Guys: The Unrated Other Edition.
