I really dislike Will Ferrell.  I mean, sure, I like Old School just like every other dude, but I don’t think I’ve outright enjoyed any film since then where he was the lead (or one of the leads).  Maybe it was because I wasn’t too familiar with him when Old School came out, and I soon came to realize that, yes, he’s that damned annoying all the time.

Yet for some odd reason, I thought that The Other Guys would be different.  After all, with a cast that included Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, and The Rock, it couldn’t be that bad….could it?

In The Other Guys, The Rock and Samuel L. Jackson are the super cops that can do no wrong.  Thing is, they hate to do paperwork after the destroy a city block, so that kind of crap is left up to the other guys, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.  When something horrifying (and hilarious) happens to the super cops, the rest of the losers in the precinct scramble to become the next superstar hero cops.

I have to admit…I enjoyed the movie.  I didn’t LOVE it, or think that it was really comedic gold or anything, but it had some genuine laughs and, unlike some of the other team ups between Ferrell and director Adam McKay (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, Anchorman), I never felt bored.  Those other films all neared the two hour mark (or passed it) with large sections between laughs.  Not so with The Other Guys.  The film is tighter, and rarely veers off track from the story for the sake of another gag.

Ferrell actually pulls it in for once and, even though he lets go every once in a while, for the most part is actually not the horribly annoying guy I’m used to seeing.  Mark Wahlberg already proved he could do comedy in The Happening, but he actually gets some good lines in this film too.  He’s helped by the dialogue though, since his primary funny stuff is what he says, not what he does.  Throw in some fun performances by the rest of the supporting cast and you’re in for a good time.

It may not change my mind about Will Ferrell, and I’m not in any rush to see it again, but The Other Guys did have me laughing for a good portion of its running time.  And, ya know, when something pleasantly surprises you, that’s never a bad thing, right?