Back in 2008, Step Brothers became my favorite comedy of the summer. Another collaboration from director Adam McKay and actor Will Ferrell, I hoped that 2010’s The Other Guys would repeat that feat.

New York police officers Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson) ride high on the hog as the city’s baddest cops. Sure, they cause massive damage wherever they go, but they’re as tough and brash as they come.

Which leaves a massive void when they both die in the line of duty. Stuck in a go-nowhere desk job due to prior transgressions, Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) wants to push the envelope and take over where Highsmith and Danson left off, but his partner Allen Gamble (Ferrell) prefers the low-risk, low-excitement life he leads.

Inadvertently, Allen sends them down the path his partner craves. Allen comes from an accounting background, and he seeks the arrest of David Ershon (Steve Coogan), an investor who didn’t get the building permits he needed. They apprehend Ershon but matters quickly go awry and become quite complicated as the cops end up in the middle of a complex case way beyond their normal scope.

Like I mentioned at the start of this review, I really looked forward to Other Guys and rushed to see it when it opened. Alas, the film disappointed me last summer, and I can’t say that a second screening has changed my opinion. The movie delivers moderate laughs, but it never approaches the heights of Step Brothers - or even Talladega Nights, the prior collaboration between McKay and Ferrell.

It doesn’t take long to figure out one possible reason things went wrong: the change in Ferrell’s comedic partner. While he worked with Wahlberg here, Ferrell got to bounce off of John C. Reilly in the earlier films. And bounce they did, as the pair demonstrated excellent chemistry and blended to make those movies much funnier than otherwise would’ve been the case.

No such sizzle comes from the combination of Wahlberg and Ferrell. Honestly, I can never quite decide what to make of Wahlberg as an actor. Although I think he has talent, he displays his skills in an awfully erratic fashion, and it’s hard to pin down the kind of projects that best suit him. To date, I suspect his best performance came in The Departed, a role for which he earned a deserved Oscar nomination. That’s not the only time I’ve seen work from Wahlberg, but more often than not, he provides turns that lack much personality or flair.

In Other Guys, Wahlberg provides a perfectly acceptable performance, but he nonetheless acts as a liability just because “perfectly acceptable” doesn’t help move the movie along in a strong fashion. While I think Wahlberg demonstrates some decent comedic chops, he seems out of his element up against the talents we find here. Other Guys comes chock full of fine funny men, so Wahlberg sticks out; he occasionally gives his lines an amusing twist, but too often, he doesn’t manage to deliver the appropriate feel.

Wahlberg also fails to present much chemistry with Ferrell, especially not when compared with the Reilly/Ferrell connection. No, Reilly shouldn’t have played Terry – he’d be woefully inappropriate as someone with the detective’s borderline supercop skills – but I’d like to see some who does better mix comedy and action. While Wahlberg doesn’t become a true liability, he also can’t do anything to elevate the material.

This leaves Ferrell nearly in a vacuum, though the supporting actors help. Coogan makes his handful of scenes little comic winners, and I mostly like Michael Keaton’s take on the police captain. I hate the running TLC gag, but Keaton manages to offer his own funny twist on the part and brings much needed life to his moments.

Many others add pizzazz as well, but the script lets them down. Other Guys comes with an almost insanely complicated plot that serves no purpose other than to confuse the audience. As an animated sequence that accompanies the end credits illustrates, the filmmakers clearly want to make a comment on the current state of corruption in business.

That’s all well and good, but would it have been difficult to make a less convoluted story? I don’t think so; I see no reason why the movie needs such a twisty, messy, nearly incomprehensible plot. It simply muddies the water and makes it harder to enjoy the comedy; we’re too busy trying to understand all the hubbub to simply laugh.

Though I’m not sure how many laughs would result anyway. Other Guys provides quite a few lines and gags that feel like they should be hilarious – why do so few of them provoke actual chuckles? As I watch the film, I often think that something is amusing but the reaction rarely goes beyond the intellectual; I can respect the potential comedy but I can’t locate the “X”-factor that makes the moment gut busting.

Or even chuckle worthy most of the time. The Other Guys offers a pleasant diversion, and it presents enough mild amusement to make it an enjoyable time. It simply doesn’t go beyond that, as it lacks the comedic power it aspires to portray.

The Other Guys appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Across the board, the movie boasted a strong presentation.

No problems with sharpness ever materialized. From start to finish, the flick offered distinctive, concise visuals; expect no issues with softness in this tight image. Jagged edges and shimmering failed to appear, and edge haloes also remained absent. Don’t expect any print flaws, as the flick stayed clean and fresh.

Guys usually opted for the chilly blues typical of the cop flicks it spoofed. A few scenes offered a different palette, but the cold tones were the most prominent. Within those parameters, the colors were good; they looked as full as they could. Blacks came across as deep and tight, while shadows seemed smooth and clear. All in all, the image was quite good.

Despite its comedic roots, the cop movie aspect of Other Guys allowed its DTS—HD MA 5.1 soundtrack to prosper. The opening scene allowed the mix to blast to life, and many others followed along the same lines. Cars screeched around the spectrum, explosions filled the room, and gunshots sizzled from spot to spot. All of these moments filled out the spectrum in a convincing, involving manner that used the five speakers well. Music added good stereo presence, and this turned into a smooth, active soundscape.

Audio quality completed the package well. A few lines showed a smidgen of edginess, but most of the lines appeared concise and crisp. Music showed nice range and punch, while effects came across in a strong manner. Those elements seemed vivid and dynamic, and they lacked distortion or other problems. I felt consistently pleased with this exciting track.

The disc features a nice mix of extras. We find both the movie’s theatrical version (1:47:27) and an unrated cut (1:56:14). A helpful optional marker allows us to distinguish the added footage, and that makes it clear that the vast majority of those 19 new pieces revolve around short snippets. Many simply offer an extra line or two, so don’t expect many extended sequences.

Indeed, only four scenes add more than a minute of footage. We see Terry at an art exhibit with his ex-girlfriend (2:25) and a crazy fight in a moving car (1:07). A coda provides a surprise appearance from a baseball notable who points Allen and Terry toward their next case (1:17), and a post-credits piece includes a joke Terry tells to Allen (2:42). Of these, only the art exhibit segment definitely deserved to be cut. It’s redundant and not especially amusing.

As for the others, the car fight is a weird omission, as it gives us good action and comedy. The coda is silly but a clever pay-off to an earlier scene, and the post-credits bit… well, it’s nothing great, but heck, it follow the credits, so what harm would its inclusion cause? Granted, the theatrical cut already has a similar scene, but this one’s longer and better. I do suspect it might’ve been too dirty for “PG-13”, though.

The short scene extensions tend to be hit or miss. Like the alternate post-credits sequence, I’d guess many got the boot for ratings issues; I don’t remember any extreme profanity, but they’re raw enough that they probably would’ve pushed the movie into “R” territory if they’d stayed. Some mildly amusing tidbits appear, but I can’t say that the film loses anything due to their absence.

Next we get an audio commentary with Sarah McKay Imperranto, Kay Ferrell, and Pat Henchy. The disc refers to this as a “Mom-mentary” because it gives us the mothers of director/co-writer Adam McKay, actor Will Ferrell, and co-writer Christopher Henchy. All three sit together for a running, screen-specific chat, though Imperranto departs with a fair amount of the film left

What do they discuss? Not much. They tell us a few stories about their sons, but mostly they just prattle about the premiere party, which guys they think are hot and how much they like the movie.

To date, McKay’s movies have come with commentaries that favor quirkiness and/or comedy over informational value; no one learned much about the creation of the various films, but at least the tracks tended to be entertaining.

That trend dies a sad death with the pointless commentary here. If the mothers had been paired with their sons, this could’ve been fun, but on their own, the women have very little of interest to say. They’re not funny or entertaining, so the commentary simply becomes a quirky idea with bland execution. Whoever thought it up probably just wanted to slap “Mom-mentary” on the box and didn’t consider the probability that the actual piece would be tedious.

A staple of this sort of comedy release, Line-O-Rama gives us multiple renditions of various gags. It fills eight minutes, 56 seconds and delivers a variety of improvised bits. The “Line-O-Rama” collections tend to be fun, and this one’s no exception.

Next comes a Gag Reel. It goes for six minutes, 17 seconds and presents a fairly standard collection of mistakes and snickering. While it adds a few more improv gags, it’s still pretty forgettable.

18 Deleted and Extended Scenes fill a total of 30 minutes, 24 seconds. In these, we get longer versions of some gags, and we see more of a variety of secondary characters; expect additional glimpses of Martin and Fosse, Pamela Boardman, and Terry’s ex-girlfriend.

Quite a few of them amuse. In a weird way, I think the movie’s comedy works better as a collection of scenes; it loses spark when compiled into a nearly two-hour movie, but when taken in bits and pieces, a lot of it’s funny. It’s clear most of these sequences were axed for simple time reasons, and not for their comedic value, as many of them are pretty good. They’re certainly no worse than the footage found in the final cut.

The alternate ending is fairly lame, though. It shows how Allen got some “cop cred” and follows up on a theme from earlier in the movie when Terry went to therapy.

Under Flash Forwards, we check out 105 seconds of… well, it’s hard to explain. These are little bits that show the aftermath of certain scenes. For instance, when a car crashes into a building lobby, we jump ahead to see how Donald Trump sells this as an improvement. The bits are odd but pretty funny.

Alternate Action runs two minutes, 42 seconds and offers exactly what it describes. It features action segments different from those in the final flick. Nothing great shows up here, but we find a few interesting moments.

A slew of featurettes follow. Wasn’t That??? lasts 15 minutes and includes notes from Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, and actors Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Rob Riggle, Damon Wayans, Jr., Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, and Eva Mendes. The piece looks at the movie’s origins and development, casting, characters and performances. It does little more than recap the story and roles, so don’t expect to learn much from it.

Crash and Burn! lasts 10 minutes, six seconds and features Wahlberg, McKay, Ferrell, Johnson, Jackson, stunt supervisor Brad Martin, and stunt man Kiante Elam. “Crash” looks at the film’s action sequences and stunts. After the nearly content-free “Wasn’t That???”, “Crash” comes as a welcome relief. It packs a lot of stunt-related info into its 10 minutes, so it’s a fun, useful short.

With the six-minute, 41-second Why Are There Brits In This Movie?, we get notes from McKay and Coogan. They chat about Coogan’s time on the set and various challenges. This is a joke featurette that pokes fun at the actor and British culture; it’s not a laugh riot, but it’s reasonably entertaining.

We see more of a supporting actor in Rob Riggle Likes to Party. This one lasts two minutes, 32 seconds and shows Riggle’s long essay about his partying skills. While not as enjoyable as “Brits”, it has some good moments and is worth a look.

We Shouldn’t Kiss Chicken goes for one minute, 16 seconds. It features Chris Henchy and highlights a game: you and someone else go to kiss each other and see who backs down first. Definitely an odd clip, it proves to be mildly amusing.

During the three-minute, 33-second Mark Wahlberg’s Eating Contest Entourage, the actor spotlights “Nacho”, a fat guy in his employ who eats a whole bunch. We then see him gorge on various less than tasty items. This may entertain some, but it does nothing for me.

Bed Bath and Way Beyond fills four minutes, six seconds and delivers notes from McKay and Keaton. They talk about his performance and we see dailies from Keaton’s work speech at Bed Bath and Beyond. Expect some funny improvs here.

For a little hint of the movie’s fictitious conglomerate, we see a Lendl Global Commercial. It lasts 39 seconds and replicates the kind of airy promo meant to advertise similar companies. It’s not particularly interesting, to be honest.

Within Extreme Close Up, we get five minutes, 17 seconds from the set. We hear from McKay, Ferrell, Wahlberg, Coogan, Johnson, Jackson, Henchy, Riggle, Wayans, 1st AD/associate producer William M. Connor, and producer Joshua Church. They provide banal comments with a twist: the camera gets in really tight on their faces. That gives the piece a mildly amusing sense.

File a music video for “Pimps Don’t Cry” under “silly”. Cee-lo Green and Eva Mendes perform this take on the tune featured in the flick. It’s a goof, but it’s a surprisingly funky goof, and Mendes looks hot, so it’s worth a look.

Lastly, Everyone Hates the DVD Guy runs four minutes, 47 seconds and focuses on the behind the scenes photography. Essentially we see nearly five minutes of people complaining about the intrusive nature of the omnipresent camera. It’s nothing great, but it has some amusing moments.

Under Previews, we find ads for Salt, The Social Network and Easy A. No trailer for Other Guys appears here.

A second disc provides both a digital copy of Other Guys for use on computers or digital portable gadgets as well as a DVD copy of the film. This doesn’t deliver the same version you’d buy on its own, but it’s not a barebones edition, so it’s a nice bonus.

Although it provides mild entertainment, The Other Guys winds up as a disappointment. Despite a lot of talent involved and some scenarios that seem ripe to delight, it falls flat too much of the time and simply lacks the expected wit. The Blu-ray provides excellent picture and audio along with a wide but inconsistent set of supplements. Maybe other fans of the Ferrell/McKay school of comedy will get more from Guys than I do, but I can’t say I’m wild about the flick.