There have been a few police buddy films out this year, the most recent of which that comes to mind is the god-awful Cop-Out. So The Other Guys, starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferris, looked set to follow in the trend of crudely made films with a formulaic plot and humour only a dumbed-down American audience could find enjoyable. And for the most part that’s what it is, however there’s enough jokes within to begin to redeem it.

The Other Guys are the losers of the NYPD, a desk-jockey who would rather find discrepancies in financial paperwork and a screw-up who cost the city a major league baseball championship. When the poster boys for the department meet a sticky end it’s up to the odd ball couple to step up and assume their roles.

What follows unfortunately is a dumbed down comedy film trying to follow a more intelligent plot than it can handle. The bad guys are walking cliches and the Police Captain seems to repeat the same two jokes each time he’s on screen. Once the Other Guys get out of the office mayhem ensues, as one would expect. The action is nothing outstanding, but it gives enough life to the film to keep it chugging along for the most part.

And that’s probably The Other Guys biggest fault; it’s just too long at 107 minutes. Sub 90 and it would have kept enough punch for its weight but instead features protected and drawn out periods that really diminish the overall feeling. Especially in the later acts, yawn moments are frequent.

Overall this film is enjoyable, in the same way sitting down and putting on the TV without paying it much attention is a good way to kill time. It’s nothing special but it doesn’t make you want to go out and punch a copper.

My rating: 5/10