There are two ways to predict a Mark Whalberg performance. As a leading man, he will be shit. In an ensemble, he will be good. In The Other Guys, the latest comedy from Anchorman's Adam McKay...he is, as predicted just fine. He plays the straight man, opposite Will Ferrell (doing his slightly demented routine) in a light buddy cop flick.
It might as well be a spin off from Kevin Smith's Cop Out (Cop Out: NY?) as it's very similar in tone, pace and the amount of laughs you get in between the usual police procedural stuff. The leads are fine in classic buddy mode, hating each other at first before learning to get along. There's some nice supporting work from Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes as Ferrell's wife (in a cool running gag about the affect that the dorkish Elf star has on hot women) and Sam Jackson and Dwayne Johnson in short but memorable cameos.
Like Cop Out, its amusing but not funny, interesting but not gripping, and action packed but not exciting. It's a little long winded and not nearly as funny as it should be (this is clearly a case of the best bits appearing in the trailer) but it's an inoffensive couple of hours with some sniggersom moments scattered evenly throughout.
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