The career of Adam McKay can be split into two distinct sections. There was the comedic hitmaker who delivered Anchorman, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers, and then evolved into the critically acclaimed talent behind razor sharp sociopolitical satires The Big Short and Vice, both of which were nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards, with McKay scooping the Best Adapted Screenplay prize for the former.
For a while, though, it looked as if he could have easily been headed into blockbuster territory if The Other Guys was any indication. An inspired riff on the buddy cop formula that followed two desk jockeys thrust into the biggest case of their careers, it drew strong reviews from critics and fans, going on to earn almost $180 million at the box office to prove that the director could handle action sequences just as well as witty interplay.
Buoyed by the undeniable chemistry between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, the plot is admittedly lightweight, but the style and spectacle is more than enough to make up for any narrative shortcomings, while Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson light up the screen with their natural charisma every time they open their mouths as the precinct’s resident badasses.
There was talk of a sequel for a little while after The Other Guys was released in the summer of 2010, but it soon faded away. That hasn’t stopped it from remaining a perennial favorite of comedy enthusiasts over the last decade, though, and it’s still managing to hold an audience given that it’s steadily rising up the Netflix viewership charts, proving once again that laughs never go out of fashion.
