Co-writer/director Adam McKay ("Step Brothers") establishes a hit-or-miss tone of non-sequitur absurdist humor for an unconventional buddy film that never quite finds its pitch. There are plenty of hearty chuckles to be had, but no sustained laughs as New York city detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) attempt to fill the super-action shoes of their doomed police partner predecessors (played by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson).
Arcane references to things like the "Little River Band," and Allen's college days as an unlikely pimp, abound as the duo chase down David Ershon (Steve Coogan) — a Bernie Madofff-inspired Ponzi scheme master protected by a handful of serious goons.
The filmmakers aren't confident enough to make their Ponzi scheme MacGuffin stick, and what's left is a series of obligatory shoot-outs and car chases, punctuated by plenty of droll humor from Will Ferrell's nerdy character. Wahlberg and Ferrell have a good comic chemistry together that goes a long way toward masking film's less than polished script.
"The Other Guys" is an action comedy that could have worked better with a greater emphasis on the comedy, and not so much on the action.
