HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — NYPD Detectives Christopher Danson and P.K. Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson) are the baddest and most beloved cops in New York City. They don’t get tattoos – other men get tattoos of them. Two desks over and one back, sit Detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). You’ve seen them in the background of photos of Danson and Highsmith, out of focus and eyes closed. They’re not heroes – they’re “the Other Guys.”
But every cop has his or her day and soon Gamble and Hoitz stumble into a seemingly innocuous case no other detective wants to touch that could turn into New York City’s biggest crime. It’s the opportunity of their lives, but do these guys have the right stuff?
“Gamble and Hoitz are not necessarily what you think of when you think of the heroes of buddy cop movies,” says Ferrell. “Gamble is a forensic accountant, a desk cop, the guy who never leaves the office, who’s very much into his paperwork. Hoitz is more of the streetwise guy who’s jonesing to get out there and make a name for himself.”
“My character is obsessed with what he thinks is real crime: drug dealers, vice, murderers, and anything that's going on in the street,” says Wahlberg. “Will’s character’s whole attitude and approach to police work is paperwork. That’s all it basically comes down to – paperwork and white collar crime. But I’m stuck with him because of a mistake that I made.”
Wahlberg, the Academy Award-nominated actor known for his tough-guy action movie roles, in a comedy opposite Will Ferrell? It’s the fulfillment of a desire on both their parts. “I’ve been looking to do a comedy for a long time,” says Wahlberg. “I just wanted to make sure I was in the right hands. There were comedic elements to certain performances that I’ve done, but to do a full-blown comedy I wanted to make sure I was protected and who better to work with than the funniest guys in movies in my opinion, Will and Adam. They invited me to dinner and said they wanted to do a movie. I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me.’ I said, ‘I’ll do whatever you want.’”
Ferrell added, “We – [Director] Adam McKay and I – are such big fans of Mark’s. We always thought he would be great in a comedy, playing a character that maybe is similar in some ways to the role he had in The Departed, but to utilize that intensity he has and play it for laughs.”
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