Viewed – 01 January 2012  Blu-ray

As my first movie viewing of the year, a comedy seemed as good a choice as any, and having recently enjoyed Elf, seeking out something else starring comedy actor Will Ferrell was an enticing prospect.  Here he is paired with normally serious actor Mark Wahlberg as one part of a cop partnership who never see the outside of the office, mainly because hot-shot super cops Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne ‘the rock’ Johnson get all the limelight.  Yet when tragedy strikes, Wahlberg see’s it as his opportunity to be the hero, having languished in obscurity following his own fall from grace after accidentally shooting a football star.

Will Ferrell is naturally the comedy sidekick here, and is likable and at times quite funny.  Mark Wahlberg looks much more out-of-place however and is not a natural fit for comedy hijinks.  The biggest problem here though is not its cast, but the writing and dialogue, with a main plot so convoluted as to become uninteresting very quickly (with a pointless Steve Coogan), and a gag-quota so hit and miss (mostly miss) that for the most part, the movie looks like its struggling to be funny – with a few too many absurd moments that don’t fit in with setting or story (a ballet dancing Wahlberg?).  Thankfully some of the action is fairly well done and the movie is quite stylish.  Ferrell as expected is enjoyable despite the poor material which says a lot for the actor, but Wahlberg really doesn’t belong here.

Perhaps not the best choice for first viewing of 2012 then.  Ah well.

Verdict:  2 /5

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