"I AM A PEACOCK! YOU SHOULD LET ME FLY!"The Other Guys is an amiable, smartly-written comedy, sending up the cliches and absurdities of the well-worn cop/action genre to good effect yet retaining its own identity with effectively-drawn characters and some strong performances. There are some very well-realised stunts and physical effects to satisfy action fans and to give the film credibility as a send-up, right from the opening double-decker bus sequence that features quite superbly over-the-top performances by Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson as a pair of ridiculously uber-macho super-cops. As the film's main focus, Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell are an excellent on-screen partnership, Wahlberg proving yet again that he can do straight-guy comedy so well, and Ferrell dialling down the hysteria a notch to give a genuinely effective comic performance. Michael Keaton appears as their long suffering Chief, reminding us why his comedic star shone so brightly in the 80s, Eva Mendes is terrific as Ferrell's wife and Steve Coogan demonstrates his spot-on delivery in a limited villainous role. Athough the film gets more serious towards the end, as plot inevitably takes precedence over humour, The Other Guys is consistently entertaining and quality is sustained to the end.
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