Not every cop can be a hero. It takes all kinds to fill a police force – you got your superstars, the guys who get the medals, your hot shots, glory boys, vets – and then… there are the other guys. Guys like Detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) who never make the headlines, in Columbia Pictures’ new action-comedy “The Other Guys.”
But every cop has his or her day and soon Gamble and Hoitz stumble into a seemingly innocuous case no other detective wants to touch that could turn into the city’s biggest crime. It’s the opportunity of their lives, but do these guys have the right stuff?
“Gamble and Hoitz are not necessarily what you think of when you think of the heroes of buddy cop movies,” says Ferrell. “Gamble is a forensic accountant, a desk cop, the guy who never leaves the office, who’s very much into his paperwork. Hoitz is more of the streetwise guy who’s jonesing to get out there and make a name for himself.”
“My character is obsessed with what he thinks is real crime: drug dealers, vice, murderers, and anything that's going on in the street,” says Wahlberg. “Will’s character’s whole attitude and approach to police work is paperwork. That’s all it basically comes down to – paperwork and white collar crime. But I’m stuck with him because of a mistake that I made.”
“Literally, around one in the morning that night after that first dinner, director Adam McKay sent out an e-mail describing a cop movie where Will is the guy who wants to do desk work and the opportunity arises for him to step up,” says co-writer Chris Henchy. “From that, we started talking about it and danced around the idea and went in and pitched it.”
Strangely enough, the comedic outline of the plot would be inspired by the current headlines – and Will’s character, though outrageously silly, is a new kind of cop and perhaps the future of law enforcement. “We like the idea of Will as a policeman, always on his computer, loving paperwork. He solves crimes from his desk, with a computer,” Henchy continues. “That’s how you catch the Bernie Madoffs of the world – it’s not hitting the streets, it’s following the paper trail.”
“Allen Gamble is a guy who loves – he actually relishes – paperwork,” says Ferrell. “Working on the computer and organization are police work for him. He’s an earnest, sweetheart type – a guy who plays it very close to the vest, a buttoned-down type of guy who shows up right on time for work and stays to the very last minute.”
Ferrell says that working with an actor like Wahlberg afforded the filmmakers the opportunity to work the comedy in a way that emphasizes his strengths. “Sometimes the comedy is conversational, and other times, it’s broad and crazy and out of control. Adam and I always feel like the best comedy is played straight – as real as possible. In fact, this might be the most real movie we’ve done tonally, which makes the situations that Allen and Terry get into so much funnier.”
Opening soon across the Philippines, The Other Guys is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.sonypictures.com.ph to get the latest movie news, video clips, games and free downloads. Find us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.
