Why It Ranks
The Other Guys paired Ferrell and Wahlberg with perfect opposites-attract chemistry. The Rock and Samuel L. Jackson's early exit is the boldest comedy fake-out of the decade. McKay smuggled Wall Street criticism into a Will Ferrell comedy. $170 million for a cop comedy with no franchise behind it.
The Film
The Other Guys is Adam McKay's most underrated film — a buddy cop comedy where the heroes are not the action stars but the desk jockeys who do the paperwork. Will Ferrell's forensic accountant Allen Gamble and Mark Wahlberg's angry detective Terry Hoitz are the funniest odd couple of the 2010s. The film hides a genuinely angry critique of Wall Street fraud inside a slapstick comedy — the end-credits infographics about income inequality and Ponzi schemes were McKay's first step toward The Big Short.
Fun Facts
The Rock and Samuel L. Jackson demanded their characters die spectacularly in the first act — the aim-for-the-bushes joke was their idea.
Mark Wahlberg's ballet backstory was Ferrell's suggestion — Wahlberg resisted until he saw how funny it played on screen.
The end-credits infographics about Ponzi schemes and CEO pay were Adam McKay's idea — they foreshadowed his career pivot to The Big Short.
Eva Mendes' casting as Ferrell's impossibly beautiful wife was a running joke that the script never explains — McKay wanted the absurdity to speak for itself.
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