"The Other Guys" -- WTF, Hollywood?

"The Other Guys" -- WTF, Hollywood?

by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on August 7th, 2010, 5:47 pm | Arts

Went out today (after a scare of veterinary matters) to see a comedy. We've seem a lot of them this summer, and so we decided to give Will Ferrel and "The Other Guys" a try. I don't know what it is about Ferrell... he has some good outings, some bad. This one: baaaaad.

Don't get me wrong. It had some very funny moments to it. The audience laughed many times during the film. The jokes, the casting (how did they get so MANY top-line stars to do this??), the action scenes -- all the ingredients were there, more or less. But the writing was derivative. Half the time, I felt I was some sort of anthropology student, watching the interactions of aliens from another planet. People got angry, violently so, for no reason. The crime mystery involved in the plot was too murky to be very interesting... there were a LOT of huge problems with this script.

I guessed while I was watching it that either the script writing job got contracted out to some pathetic hacks that I could easily out-write in a peaceful weekend, or it was written by committee, and no one noticed the mess they were getting into. I tend to think that at least some of the lines were inserted by the actors (ad libbed? I kinda doubt it...), but overall, I lay the blame for this at the feet of the writers (the director, and Chris Henchy, who's only other writing credit appears to be "Land of the Lost").

Seriously, Hollywood. There are brilliant writers out in the world who could have made this a GREAT spoof of buddy cop spoofs. It appears that this was the intent. And this movie FAILED. Take some time to find the good writers. Get the hacks out of the system, because THEY ARE HACKS, and they make it appear that you don't CARE about your product's quality. And if you don't care about the quality, who really will?

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:Seriously, Hollywood. There are brilliant writers out in the world who could have made this a GREAT spoof of buddy cop spoofs. It appears that this was the intent. And this movie FAILED.

Well the system is broken. The writer and director on this one is the same old group. Circa Land of The lost.... The problem is as with any writing... is your writing is only good for a limited time span. Sometimes it takes intermissions and comes back, though these guys never have impressed me much.

Hollywood's problem is it's hard to break in. I suppose that's true with any industry, but clearly once your in- in Hollywood, it's easier. I've found it interesting that some of Europe's best screenwriters who've dreamed about making it in Hollywood got the door slammed in their faces. It's a fickle industry. (A couple of us on here know that.)

On a side note... not writing related, I know a Hollywood actor who has moved darn close up to A-list material. He's F-ing everywhere... at Subway, New Years Eve on Tv, Posters, Promotional stuff, freaking Alvin and The Chipmunks... and no offense to him... what I see him doing on screen doesn't "blow me away". If I wasn't some what acquainted with him through various channel, I might judge him as having more fortune than talent... but on the other hand... he's making bank, and I'm a broke Student author. So who am I to say? Sure I can relish in the rumors that he slept his way to the top, but the truth of the matter is he got a break, and somehow either impressed the right people or made someone rich enough to keep around.

...So maybe these guys did too....

The real drawback to the Hollywood system is that hacks that get positive feedback for their material never get any incentive to improve their skills, and thus become trapped in their hackery. The negative feedback given to better writers tends to lead to hopelessness.

Well I guess it's all on who they studied under....

I have a check list of criteria to determine if a screenplay is good or not. The easiest bullet point to tell if a writer is good or bad:

-Does the main characters have a favorite food and is this addressed in the screenplay.

(Yes I write my own rules.)
I figure, food is the most important part of a humans life. (Well one of them atleast.) If the screenwriter doesn't put some sort of favorite food in there, they're not addressing humanity or approaching film in the correct manner. (Not to mention tapping into that human sense to make the experience better.) [mental recall of taste, smell, etc.]

So did the 'Other Guys' past the test so far SFI?

I'm guessing they did since they're in NY. It's hard to tell from the trailer.

Then of course I have tons of other rules.

-Was it Drama or Comedy? Did it suceed in making me feel emotion?
-Was the plotline obvious or unique enough to be puzzeling?
-Will the experience of watching the movie stay with me after I've left the cinema?

Of course I have subset rules, like in "drama":

-Was there sacrafice?
-Was there hubris?
-Was there epiphany?

In "comedy":
-Did the joke serve more than a laugh? A powerful statement to better its viewer?
-Is the humor witty, to almost the level of poetry? If not, does it address a human vulnerability on some level?
-Does the humor carry the story or does is serve as a distraction to the plot?

Of course... so many pieces... I just stop with the food.

I don't recall anyone expressing a particular preference for any food, tho Ferrell did compar a dinner his wife served him to a horse's anus.

I'll say this, however. I read one review that said it is an okay movie that won't last in your memory longer than a summer popsickle. It will stay in MY memory as a writer, who was deeply offended by such a waste of good potential.