Review #1,337: 'The Other Guys' (2010)

The comedy pairing of writer and director Adam McKay and actor Will Ferrell turned their attention towards the buddy action movie for their fourth feature, The Other Guys. Their familiar see-what-sticks attitude and encouragement of improvisation often produces mixed to plain bad results (see Talladega Nights: The Story of Ricky Bobby), but every now and then gold can be struck, with the huge following that was generated in the wake of cult favourite Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy being the most obvious example. The Other Guys falls easily into the second category, with the sheer volume of belly laughs inspired by a fast-paced first hour going some way to gloss over the disappointment of the stretched-out, action-heavy final 50 minutes.

The NYPD prides itself on its two superstar cops, Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson), who regularly cause millions of dollars worth of damages on the city streets while chasing down low-level criminals, but doing so in style. When their own arrogance and plain stupidity puts them out of action, partners Gamble (Ferrell) and Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), one a goofy desk jockey and the other a neurotic short-fuse (I'm sure you can guess which is which) must step up to keep the city safe. While investigating a scaffolding permit violation by billionaire businessman Sir David Ershon (Steve Coogan), the pair stumble upon a conspiracy involving mass fraud that goes all the way to the very top. They are met with resistance by a group of heavies led by Australian Roger Wesley (Ray Stevenson), and from their very own bosses and co-workers, but must get past their own personality clashes to bring the culprit to justice.

It's a shame that The Other Guys runs out of steam long before the closing credits, as there is real chemistry between the two leads. The film eventually falls back on a montage of shoot-outs and car chases to become the very thing it started out satirising, but Ferrell and Wahlberg have fun while it lasts. Wahlberg makes for a hilarious straight-man and the perfect foil for Ferrell to bounce his goofball ad-libs off, before the latter turns up the weirdness and decibel levels up to intolerable levels. The big joke is that Gamble is incredibly plain, but inexplicably attracts gorgeous women, including his 'bland' wife played by Eva Mendes. Hoitz's reaction to meeting the woman his partner describes as a 'big old gal' provides the film's funniest moment. There's great support from Michael Keaton, who gets to flex his comedy muscles after a long stint out of the game, but the meathead rival partners played by Damon Wayans Jr. and Rob Riggle are irritating from the get-go. A mixed bag for sure, but one of the better efforts from Ferrell and his posse.


Directed by: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #815: '2 Fast 2 Furious' (2003)

With Vin Diesel establishing himself as a star following roles in the excellent Pitch Black (2000) and the first The Fast and the Furious (2001) movie, Diesel chose not to star in 2 Fast 2 Furious, a sequel that amps up the action and car-porn but notably lacks the charisma and easy-going goofiness that made the first entry such an easy watch. Diesel bailed to make that hugely-memorable action film A Man Apart (anyone?), and is replaced by Tyrese Gibson, who certainly has the energy but lacks the star quality of the man whose void he is charged with filling. The amusingly-titled 2 Fast 2 Furious has no brains at all, and barely enough balls or originality to back it up.

After allowing wanted criminal Dominic Toretto (Diesel) to evade capture at the climax of the first film, Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) has been discharged from the L.A.P.D. and finds himself on the run. With no income, he pays his way by participating in high-speed drag races, organised and refereed by Tej (Ludacris). After winning a race and fleeing the scene with the arrival of the cops, Brian is captured when his car is disabled by a ESD grappling hook. His former boss, FBI agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) throws him an offer - if he assists with a joint FBI-Customs sting to bring down violent drug-lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), his record will be wiped clean. Brian accepts on one condition - he chooses his own partner. Enter old friend and ex-jailbird Roman Pearce (Gibson).

For fans of the franchise, the first sequel in a series that has now reached seven offers everything you would expect - bromance, pimped-out auto-mobiles, mild violence, and Eva Mendes in a white bikini. What it doesn't offer is a plot, credibility or anything remotely resembling a decent script. Walker, who commands top bill for a second time, is perfectly likeable but lacks charisma or star quality. He and Gibson share a little chemistry, but they say little to each other apart from calling each other 'brah' a lot and talking to each other in their separate cars when they cannot hear each other. Hauser is unconvincing as a Colombian drug lord and his character is wafer-thin, and the way he goes about his business borders on the plain stupid. Hardly a trial to watch, but is offensively brainless at times.


Directed by: John Singleton
Starring: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Cole Hauser, Ludacris, Thom Barry
Country: USA/Germany

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #530: 'Holy Motors' (2012)

A bizarre, enigmatic and brave cinematic return to feature film making from Leos Carax, after a 13 year gap, Holy Motors is a self-consciously low budget odyssey of ambiguous, pseudo-linear intentions. After five years attempting to raise funds for a large budget English language film that ultimately fell through, Carax turned his attentions on a native language film with a smaller cost, and was inspired when observing the many limousines driving around Paris. Regular collaborator Denis Lavant plays the mysterious Monsiuer Oscar, who is driven around the city in the white stretched vehicle, taking him to the variety of "appointments" of the day. The appointments appear to be a series of acting jobs, where Mr Oscar dresses up for the multitude of roles.

From a dishevelled gypsy woman, - through a banker, and a dying millionaire - to a crazed vagabond who kidnaps a fashion model, Kay M. (Eva Mendes), Oscar glides through the day and into the night, changing his appearance with make-up and prosthetics, fulfilling his duty to a mysterious company, accomplishing the jobs he is given information through files in the back of the car. In other scenarios Oscar is dressed in a black leotard with white dots, as he enters a very industrialised building where he performs a motion-capture dance and highly sexualised duo with a red-clad blond woman, as it turns into the serpentine CGI creation; in another, Oscar joins his 2 point 4 family unit, which consist of chimpanzees.

Whilst Carax takes many stylistic references from David Lynch, the film also offers a quite unique sense of humour. In one scene, Oscar is playing a dying rich man, who has his step-niece beside him in his last moments. After dying, Oscar climbs from the bed, the niece still sobbing into the covers, he turns back to ask the girls name, and offering apologies for his swift exit: "I have to get to another appointment" he states, which is returned with the reply that she also needs to leave for another appointment (It's funnier on screen than in writing - and certainly after the incredibly moving moments of death). It's a jarring punch-line to a heartfelt moment. Small details of technological modernity invade the mis-en-scene, for example, when Oscar is the vagabond, he wildly runs through a cemetery eating flowers, each gravestone has its own www.address.

Holy Motors is without question a film about film, and film making, offering allusions to Jean Cocteau and Jean-Luc Godard. Fundamentally though, this film seems to evoke another French original, Georges Franju, whose film Eyes Without a Face (1960) is highly referenced. Edith Scob (who played the masked victim in the film), drives Mr Oscar around, and actually reprises her role, and hides her face once again under the mask. The mysterious events in the film could also be regarded as a comment on changing nature of cinematic production. From the motion capture sequence to the nature of Oscar scatological "job", the film seems to lament the loss of real cinema - Carax filmed in digital video (a format that he hates) for budgetary reasons.

What is so beautiful about this mode of cinema is the complexity of meaning. This is film so dense in symbolism that it requires repeat viewings. Whether it's about the changing face of cinema, the acting profession, or an exploration of the nature of identity (Oscar could represent the many faces that we have to put on each day, in the performance of life, and our increasing need to compartmentalise each element of our lives), it doesn't really matter what the directors true intentions were. This is cinematic experience at a most cerebral level. We are not given the meaning, but we take from it what we bring to it, and can interpret it how we want. Lavant creates a fantastic, multi-faceted performance, even managing to hold an erect penis in the most unsexy environment ever. Kylie Minogue even manges to be perfectly suited for her small role in which she may have been a past lover of Mr Oscar, she also sings a song written by Carax and Neil Hannon, which enlightens a dingy musical movie moment.


Directed by: Leos Carax
Starring: Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue
Country: France/Germany

Rating: *****

Marc Ivamy

Review #82: 'Hitch' (2005)

It was quite strange to watch a film such as Hitch - I usually avoid breezy rom-com's like the plague. It was only because myself and my girlfriend were tired after a train ride on holiday and the place where we were staying had a DVD player and a small selection of titles. Hitch seemed the best option (I wanted to watch Wilde (1997) but we both agreed something easier to watch would be for the best). My instincts usually tell me that film like this will be predictable, annoyingly frothy, and sentimental, although able to raise the occasional smirk. Well, my instincts were pretty much right. Hitch (Will Smith) is a date-doctor who takes on his biggest task yet - to teach how overweight corporate idiot Albert (Kevin James) to romance celebrity Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), whom Albert has become smitten with. He is also dealing with his own love life - romancing hard-nosed columnist Sara (Eva Mendes). That's it in a nutshell really. Although thinking about it, the film isn't much more than that.

There were moments of this film I enjoyed. Will Smith makes for a likeable actor, breathing sympathy into his rather smug character, and Kevin James, best known as food-loving truck driver Doug in TV's King Of Queens, is amusing as the embarrassing and bumbling Albert. The film is stronger during the scenes when they are together, and only when Hitch begins to delve into his own romance where the film becomes frustrating and rather unconvincing. Eva Mendes' character is just annoying, and I failed to see the attraction that Hitch would have with her, apart from the obvious physical qualities. When the film looks like it's going to stretch it's legs outside of the comfortable rom-com cliche, it sits back in safety and just turns into a bore.

Directed by: Andy Tennant

Starring: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James

Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie