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Not every police officer can be as cool or as kick-ass as Riggs and Murtaugh or Crockett and Tubbs or, in the case of this film, NYPD super cops Christopher Danson and P.K. Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, respectively). Someone has to file the reports, do the grunt work and plan the bake sales or union meetings. These duties fall to The Other Guys, the unsung cops who have to endure the exploits and egos of their more celebrated and heroic brethren. 

The other guys here are detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). Terry was thisclose to his big break as a detective before (hilarious) misfortune befell him and he finds himself demoted and partnered with the mild-mannered Allen, a forensic accountant with a badge. Terry hates Allen for his blandness, his passivity, and for accepting doing the scut work while Danson and Highsmith hog all the glory. But Terry will discover there is more to Allen than he first thought, beginning with his sexy wife Sheila (Eva Mendes). 

Gamble and Hoitz get their chance to prove themselves as “real cops” when they start tracking white collar but politically connected criminal David Ershon (Steve Coogan), a moneyman whose dealings with a shady CEO (Anne Heche) have wide-reaching implications. Allen and Terry find themselves running afoul of Heche’s head of security (Ray Stevenson) and fighting resistance within their own department. It just might cost them their badges, but they’re determined to prove to themselves and to their fellow cops that they’re more than just “the other guys.” 

This marks the fourth feature film collaboration between Ferrell and director Adam McKay, and while it may not prove to be as endearing or quotable as Anchorman or Step Brothers, The Other Guys is nevertheless another gem for the comedy duo. Parodying (and ultimately embracing) the cliches of the buddy cop movies of the ’80s, The Other Guys sends up the over-the-top action sequences of those films and the seeming invulnerability of its gun-toting heroes in Jackson and Johnson’s super cops. 

Yet the film also salutes the “everyman” cops, not only in the title characters but also in the person of Michael Keaton’s beleaguered captain, who is forced to make ends meet by working part-time at Bed, Bath & Beyond — a job that he just might enjoy more. (Between this and Toy Story 3, it’s nice to see Michael Keaton back onscreen in major movies.) 

The spots for The Other Guys haven’t done this movie justice. They’ve made it look like a generic buddy cop film, rather than the smarter, funnier genre send-up that it is: the tuna vs. lion debate … the TLC jokes … the Little River Band references … Terry’s expertise in certain, um, skills and why he knows about them … Gamble’s inexplicable magnetism to women … the reason why Terry is partnered with Gamble to begin with … and you’ll never think of a “soup kitchen” the same way again. But it’s the chemistry between the cast members, particularly leads Ferrell and Wahlberg, that makes it all work. 

Ferrell returns to greatness here after stumbling with Land of the Lost and Semi-Pro, delivering his latest tightly wound buffoon who hides his explosive side underneath a seemingly benign veneer. Wahlberg, however, is a big surprise, showing comedic chops that his films heretofore haven’t suggested. He’s the straight man, and the movie deftly exploits his tough guy persona. That said, there are still moments where he seems out of his depth, especially in what are evidently improvisational moments. Mendes is fine here, getting some of the film’s most suggestive laughs (often due to Wahlberg’s leering). Along with the aforementioned Keaton, Jackson and Johnson, supporting players Coogan, Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. all get their moments to shine. 

The story loses focus when it gets caught up in unraveling Coogan and Heche’s white collar scheme, but its effective moments far outweigh the flab that could have been trimmed. The Other Guys smartly and hilariously satirizes and salutes the buddy cop/action-comedy genre, and so far is the funniest movie of the summer.

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