The Other Guys

The Other Guys Movie Poster #2
Originally uploaded by flickposter

The Other Guys is the second buddy cop comedy to come out in 2010, and despite the coolness of Bruce Willis in Cop Out, The Other Guys can claim victory. In this odd couple pairing, Terry Holtz is a detective taken off the streets of NY because while working security at a Yankee game he accidently shot Derek Jeter… His new partner Allen Gamble is a laced up former accountant for the force, who spurns all of Holtz’s attempts to get back on the street. As odd a pairing as Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell may seem on first glance, let me tell you they work together wonderfully as tough cop, wimp cop in this film.

Ever since The Big Hit I’ve loved Mark Wahlberg, and I would love for him to get more screen time. However, he does seem to play the same characters over and over again. The only thing that makes hardened cop Terry Holtz any different than the hardened cops he’s played before is the comedy in the film. Holtz is repressed not because of the pressure put on him by mob bosses and political figures but because of the absurdity of his partner, and the cases he’s willing to pursue – because of this he becomes prone to illogical outbursts and tantrums in the middle of the office.

This is also the first movie in a long while that Eva Mendes hasn’t driven my nuts. She was again cast as the “hot chick” but playing opposite Will Ferrell her exotic beauty becomes an interesting, odd foil to his quirkiness. Her character is funny and memorable as the last in a string of super-hot girlfriends that Alan Gamble became entwined with.

However, in my opinion what The Other Guys does best is a running gag. It’s a joke that evolves several times in the film, and with each step it becomes funnier – like comedy should! Without trying to spoil the joke, it involves Allen’s gun and Capt. Gene.

The only thing that really bothered me about The Other Guys was the needless politics tacked on to the end credits. Republican, democrat, or anarchist – I don’t care – I just don’t like to see my movies with needless political statements tacked onto the films. I dislike message movies, and I desperately dislike simply throwing a message in at the end. That’s what short films are for. Do it funny and quirky, like the latest Pixar short Night & Day about equality. That works. Financial and legal news animated to credits – not so much.

However, I think that The Other Guys is a movie worth seeing. The cast contains some of the best character actors working today, the jokes are well placed and run the gambit of style and the film will make you laugh and take your mind off things for awhile – until the end credits hit.

Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Adam McKay & Chris Henchy
P.K. Highsmith: Samuel L. Jackson
Christopher Danson: Dwayne Johnson
Capt. Gene: Michael Keaton
Terry Hoitz: Mark Wahlberg
Allen Gamble: Will Ferrell
David Ershon: Steve Coogan
Shelia Gamble: Eva Mendes

Allen Gamble: I was so drunk, I thought a tube of toothpaste was astronaut food.

Hamlet 2

Set in Tuscon, Arizona, Hamlet 2 centers around failed actor Dana Marschz who is now a drama teacher at a high school there and hating Tuscon almost as much as he hates his lack of success. However, Dana valiantly lives for his drama productions at the school – which are self-penned, Hollywood blockbusters he’s turned into high school musicals. When Dana finds out drama is being canceled because of budget cuts he decides to save the program by writing a completely original play – Hamlet 2 – which brings Hamlet back to save the day thanks to Jesus and a time machine. The play stirs so much controversy that soon it ricochets out of control and everyone from the fire department to the religious right is trying to shut Dana down.

If you find the phrase “a sequel to Hamlet” remotely amusing there is a pretty good shot that you will like Hamlet 2. Out of the gate this film feels like an elongated South Park episode – and I mean that in a great way. The filmmakers were on South Park and Hamlet 2 is a better satire for it. This film is a dry comedy that uses everything from the barren landscape, the business of Hollywood and inspiring teacher movies to create a through atmosphere that runs the riot of comedy all the way from intellectual humor to slapstick.

Steve Coogan is without a doubt the anchor of this cast. If a less talented actor had been in his shoes, or a more obvious comedian, Hamlet 2 would have crossed a line and never recovered – it would have become terminally unfunny. However, Coogan is an expert at what he does and Dana Marschz becomes pathetic yet loveable because of it.

The single most infamous element in Hamlet 2 has got to be the song “Rock Me Sexy Jesus”. If you’ve heard of this song in the past few years, you now know what it is from. “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” is the most controversial element in Dana’s play and perhaps the funniest set piece as we get to see the actual staging (which includes teen girls fainting at the sight of Jesus in a wife-beater and Jesus kicking Satan in the rear), the audience reaction (a group of religious women running up to the stage to pray) and the protesters outside the building. It’s the perfect storm in the third act of the film that cements Hamlet 2 as a brilliant and fresh satire with bite.

A personal bonus for me in Hamlet 2 are the references to Tuscon. Dana and the filmmakers don’t’ like Tuscon very much, and the film bags on it so much that they actually had to go to New Mexico to shoot – which anyone that’s been to Tuscon can immediately tell. While I know Tuscon is a place beloved by many I have to say that my personal experiences in Tuscon and the surrounding area have not been pleaseant…so for me Dana’s distaste of the city and this knocks it receives were met with many understanding laughs.

This will undoubtedly become a permanent member of my DVD collection and a cult classic for many. I can’t wait until I force it onto my friends so I get to see what they think of Jesus and Hamlet.

Director: Andrew Fleming
Writers: Pam Brady & Andrew Fleming
Dana Marschz: Steve Coogan
Brie Marschz: Catherine Keener
Principal Rocker: Marshall Bell
Gary: David Arquette
Elisabeth Shue: Herself
Cricket Feldstein: Amy Poehler

Dana: Chuy, you're going to have a magical life. Because no matter where you go, it's always going to be better than Tucson.

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder Screen Captures 03
Originally uploaded by AshDigitalis

I have been excited about the prospect of Tropic Thunder for months. I do have a special place in my heart for movies about making movies; add to that the prospect of Robert Downey Jr. and a huge amount of advanced buzz and I was pretty sure that there was no way I could dislike Tropic Thunder.

I adored Tropic Thunder.

Everything about the film was funny to me, but I do not think I have laughed harder in years at a movie. Every time Robert Downey Jr. opened his mouth to deliver a line about the inner workings of Holylwood or the craft of acting I could not stop laughing.

This film has gotten a lot of heat because it is “controversial” and “insensitive”. What drives me nuts is that with these kinds of films (the same with Dogma) people jump to conclusions without seeing them in the text of the film.

Are the jokes about Simple Jack the retard insensitive? Yes. But what they fail to see is that they are more insensitive towards why Tugg Speedman chose to play Jack than the mental condition of the character. The entire joke is based around the insensitivity of Hollywood towards the individual and the outsider, and that their main goal is to win awards and make money – period. This is actually the theme of the entire movie; somehow Ben Stiller and the writing team found a way to poke fun at the system while completely endorsing the system to get the movie made.

Tropic Thunder is filled to the brim with cameos, inside jokes and memorable characters that completely endorse the Hollywood stereotype that people believe in. While I adored all of the stars and cemeos in this film I do have to say that two people stood out for me as my favorites – Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise.

Tom Cruise is Les Grossman, the head of the studio that is making the movie within Tropic Thunder - Tropic Thunder. This is the tent pole movie of the decade for the studio and Les is personally involved, even getting people to assault the films director as he is on teleconference thousands of miles away and cannot do it himself. This role is the Tom Cruise I know, love and have missed ever since his couch jumping incident; this is the Tom Cruise that is in the business because he loves it, and is the biggest star in the world without trying to be anyone but himself – the Tom Cruise that does things because he knows his fans will enjoy it.

This truly is the summer of Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man was brilliant, and I think Tropic Thunder was made by his portrayal of Kirk Lazarus – Australian method actor, multi-award winner, who is so committed to the role that he has undergone a procedure to dye his skin black so he can portray the platoons sergeant. This role is one of the funniest I have seen since my personal favorite comedy Blazing Saddles where I fell in love with Gene Wilder’s Jim.

I highly recommend Tropic Thunder to all. It is a highly enjoyable movie that will entertain adults to no end. Just remember to go in knowing that this movie is not PG-13, and that the jokes are meant to be taken within the context of the film – a knowledge of film history helps as well.

Director: Ben Stiller
Writers: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Ethan Cohen
Kirk Lazarus: Robert Downey Jr.
Jeff Portnoy: Jack Black
Tugg Speedman: Ben Stiller
Kevin Sandusky: Jay Baruchel
Alpa Chino: Brandon T. Jackson
Damien Cockburn: Steve Coogan
Cody: Danny McBride
Four Leaf: Nick Nolte
Rick Peck: Matthew McConaughey
Les Grossman: Tom Cruise

Kirk Lazarus: I don't read the script. The script reads me.