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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.

Richard Kelly makes some of the coolest yet unexplainable films I have ever seen, granted my experience with him extends only to his two feature films but let me tell you Southland Tales is quite the trip. I had a very enjoyable time watching Southland Tales, but I can still tell you I have no idea what it was about.

The film opens with a quaint family filled birthday party in Texas that is being filmed by one of the children a the party when suddenly a bright flash is seen and a bang and a nuclear bomb has been exploded, an act of terrorism that starts the dystopic future that prevails in Kelly’s version of America. Due to WWIII and being cut off from the Middle East our nation is looking for alternate fuel sources, and has just unveiled a thermo dynamic system off the coast of California. Meanwhile, actor Boxer Santos has disappeared and his politician father-in-law is frantically looking for him as it is an election year. Combine this with Boxer’s porn star girlfriend, a terror group called the Neo-Marxists & an overbearing Big Brother government and you have Southland Tales.

Southland Tales is narrated by Pilot Abilene, an actor and soldier who watches over Malibu and deals drugs. Abilene was one of my favorite characters in the film and I am really coming to respect Timebrlake as an actor – he does a dang good job. My favorite sequence in the film is a musical sequence to “All These Things” by the Killers, which is used when Abilene is on a high. Watching the sequence makes me hope that Kelly might one day do a little more with the musical genre, it was beautiful.

I can’t recommend this movie to everyone because I know it would drive quite a few people nuts. However, if you liked Donnie Darko or just want to try a very unique but artful film then give Southland Tales a try. Kelly is a unique artist and I want him to be supported.

Director & Writer: Richard Kelly
Cyndi Pinziki: Nora Dunn
Starla Von Luft: Michele Durrett
Krysta Now: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Boxer Santos: Dwayne Johnson
Vaughn: John Laraquette
Serpentine: Lai bing
Bart Bookman: Jon Lovitz
Madeline Frost Santos: Mandy Moore
Dream: Amy Poehler
Nana Mae Frost: Miranda Richardson
Roland Taverner: Seann William Scott
Baron Von Westphalen: Wallace Shawn
Simon Theory: Kevin Smith
Private Pilot Abilene: Justin Timberlake

Cyndi Pinziki: Nothing an eight ball, a porn star and a tattoo parlor can't handle.