THE OTHER GUYS
Funny, flawed salute to average heroes—for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
If you want a broad, energetic comedy with a funny central team, THE OTHER GUYS has real entertainment value. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg work well together, Michael Keaton provides strong comic support, and the movie finds humor in two ordinary detectives trying to serve well behind the scenes.
The film also includes many clean jokes and wild action that can be funny. But that material is surrounded by abundant obscenities, lewd humor, crude homosexual jokes, sexual references, and other content detailed below. Its end credits also turn into a contentious political lesson attacking wealthy capitalists and promoting a share-the-wealth perspective.
Adults who can exercise discernment may find the laughs worthwhile. Families with children or young teens should choose something else. The practical answer: WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAfter two celebrated NYPD detectives die while trying to capture criminals, mismatched partners Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz consider stepping into their place.
Terry wants the excitement and reputation of a gun-slinging detective. Mild-mannered Allen would rather use his accounting skills to investigate financial crimes from his desk. But when Allen uncovers a possible Wall Street scheme involving $32 billion, the reluctant partners are pushed into dangerous investigations—and powerful people want them to stop asking questions.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means THE OTHER GUYS is a funny, well-acted romp with significant flaws. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg make an entertaining team, while Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes provide effective comic support. The movie also offers many clean, sometimes goofy jokes and wild action violence that can be funny.
The comedy uses a loud, over-the-top style that will not appeal to everyone. Its strongest comic moments come from the mismatched partnership, including arguments that turn ordinary disagreements into absurd confrontations. The abundant obscenities and off-color humor, however, keep the film from being a cleaner success.
The Worldview
THE OTHER GUYS celebrates the average person working behind the scenes, especially the ordinary policeman serving society. Its story honors people who may not look heroic but still confront wrongdoing. That message is weakened by the film’s end-credit material, which presents statistics about CEO compensation, worker pay, retirement accounts, and corporate profits in a way the source review describes as politically correct, Communist, anti-capitalist, and supportive of forced wealth redistribution.
The film’s treatment of wealth and business is therefore contentious. It criticizes wealthy capitalists and Wall Street CEOs, while the review argues that its comparisons are misleading and could encourage an anti-capitalist “share-the-wealth” view that threatens economic liberty and meritocracy. The review also acknowledges that businesses could share profits with lower-level workers more effectively, but says the film makes that point through less accurate and more ideological arguments.
A biblical view can affirm justice for workers without treating wealth itself as evil. Scripture says, “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages” (Jeremiah 22:13). The film’s concern for ordinary workers can prompt useful discussion, even where its political conclusions depart from biblical wisdom.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light moral worldview in a comic context about police stopping bad guys with some politically correct Communist, anti-capitalist attacks on Wall Street and the rich over the end credits that seem to advocate forced wealth re-distribution, plus two homosexual jokes about homeless men having an orgy in a car but nothing specific is said; 71 obscenities (mostly “s,” “h” and “a” words), one GD and 13 light profanities (e.g., My God, Oh God and two I swear to God) and brief scatological humor in a couple scenes referring to urination; lots of action violence, some of it comic, includes explosions, vehicles crash into storefronts and a bus, car chases, vehicles crash into parked vehicles and other vehicles, gunfire with some people getting hit, two puffed-up conceited police detectives misjudge what they can do and accidentally leap to their deaths, shootouts, falling, comic fighting, man splashes coffee on another man after losing a funny argument, and man goes berserk and smashes up room while playing bad cop good cop; no depicted sex scenes but implied married sex after reconciled married couple take off some clothes and scene fades to another scene, conceited detective mentions he has lots of sexual affairs, some lightly lewd sex messages between married couple, detective is amazed at how “hot” his nerdy partner’s wife is and wants to replace his partner if partner dies, married man briefly seen drinking with women at a bar after wife kicks him out of the house before they reconcile shortly thereafter, two homosexual jokes about homeless men having an orgy in a car but no details (crude or otherwise) are given, cop gives his unmarried partner a gift mug saying “FBI - Female Body Inspector,” and jokes about man’s past in college where he “managed” a “dating service” but man later admits he was a pimp; no nudity but a few shots of female cleavage; photos of detectives in bar getting drunk; no smoking or drug use but cop’s car runs over cocaine and gets smeared with it; and, stealing, attempted stealing but it is foiled, man comically insults his beautiful wife’s looks in fancy dresses but he explains that away later, uncontrolled anger, attempted fraud but it is foiled, and two cops goad detective into firing his gun in the office and his boss replaces gun with a fake wooden one.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The movie honors ordinary people who serve others without celebrity. How does Jesus describe greatness, and where can you serve faithfully without recognition?
Mark 10:43–45 · Colossians 3:23–24The film criticizes wealthy executives and raises questions about fair pay. What responsibilities do employers have toward workers, and how should Christians think about wealth?
Jeremiah 22:13 · 1 Timothy 6:17–19The end-credit arguments present a strong political perspective. How can you test persuasive claims and pursue truth rather than simply accepting a compelling message?
Acts 17:11 · Proverbs 18:17Allen and Terry want to become heroes in different ways. What makes a person genuinely courageous, and how is biblical courage different from seeking fame?
Joshua 1:9 · Philippians 2:3–4The Final Word
THE OTHER GUYS is a funny, well-acted salute to ordinary people who serve behind the scenes. Its strong language, crude humor, violence, and contentious end-credit politics make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, the laughs may make it WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For a family movie night, choose from.
