Salt couldn’t do it. Dinner With Schmucks couldn’t do it. But, after three weeks on top of the box office, a couple of Other Guys finally managed to knock off Christopher Nolan’s thriller Inception.
The Other Guys, a Will Ferrell-helmed send-up of those action-packed buddy-cop flicks that have flourished on the big screen since, oh, In the Heat of the Night, gunned its way to the top of the box office with $35.6 million. The comedy nearly doubled the $18.6 million take of second-place Inception—a rude wake-up call indeed. Step Up 3D, the week’s other major newcomer, spun its way to a respectable third with $15.5 mil. Salt and Schmucks rounded out the top five with $11.1 million and $10.5 million, respectively.
I never quite know what to expect when I see a Will Ferrell movie anymore. The stuff of his I’ve reviewed for Plugged In—Semi-Pro and Step Brothers—both finished near the top of my “least favorite movies” list. But I thought Stranger Than Fiction was a pretty fascinating flick, and Elf was strangely charming. Granted, these films had their problems (most films do), but were a cut above what I usually see from Ferrell.
So for me, The Other Guys was both a pleasant surprise and a profound disappointment. I really liked the movie’s underlying message—that living one’s life within some reasonable boundaries can be, frankly, kinda cool. And it was pretty funny at times. Plus, being a Honda Fit owner and Simon & Garfunkel aficionado, I can’t help but have a soft spot for a lead character who drives a Toyota Prius and listens to Little River Band. But the content got really burdensome. There was just too much gunk here to excuse. I’d like to like The Other Guys more … but I can’t.
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