Don't Judge This Movie By The Previews

Choosing a fractal for movie review can often be a difficult to near-impossible task.  I had no idea what I was going to do for The Other Guys so in desperation I cchose Twisted Quad--mainly because the image is black and white--like most police cars.  (Told you I was desperate.)  Ah well, that being said--on with the review!
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Frankly, I wasn't all that excited about seeing The Other Guys.  Will  Farrell movies of late have been pretty badd and the previews could, at best, be described as lame.  Imagine my surprise when  the movie turned out to be surprisingly good!  The movie works because it is done with a wink and a nudge as it sends up the buddy-cop genre yet plays everything completely straight!
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The movie opens up on "superstar" cops Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne "the Rock Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson in brief cameos) who do 12 million dollars damage foiling a $74,000 jewelry heist and they get away with it (in a scene that could only happen in an action movie).  After the two cops die (failing to make one of those action movie rooftop jumps) tne action switches back to the station where we meet "the other guys" Detectives Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz (Farrell and Mark Wahlberg).  Gamble is recently transferred from Forensic Accounting to the squad room and gets paired with Hoitz who got (in)famous for shooting Derek Jeter (playing himself) during the World Series.  What follows is an action movie twisted about 90 degrees yet played straight.
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Farrell plays his usual oblivious schmuck character (although he turns it down quite a bit for this role).  Wahlberg's Hoitz is a tortured soul very typical of this sort of movie.  The evolution of their relationship is fun to watch as are the revelations about both characters.  Other standout characters include Michael Keaton as Captain Gene March amd Steve Coogan who plays oddly-loveable slimeball Sir David Ershon.  Eva Mendes looks hot, hot, hot as Allen's wife Sheila but otherwise has a pretty thankless role.  The action sequences are done as homages to famous scenes in other movies and played completely straight even though the twist makes you laugh.  No expense was spared in these scenes and they are sure to satisfy any action-junkie. 
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It seems I liked The Other Guys somewhat better than the average movie-goer but I still quite recommend it.  Is it a movie for the ages?  No--but it is certainly a movie for the summer.  Especially a summer where there is so little to entice you into the theaters...
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FINAL GRADE: A-