‘The Other Guys’

They're good enough to get the job done.

And considering the competition during this bummer of a movie summer, that's good enough.

Too bad "The Other Guys" doesn't quite deliver its full quota of promised laughs.

Sometimes it gets distracted and thinks it's a real buddy-cop action workout, in which stuff blows up real good and our heroes have each other's backs as they take down the bad guys.

But because our heroes are played by Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell -- and because Ferrell's longtime partner in comedic crime, Adam McKay, is calling the shots -- that sort of thing gets in the way a little too often for the movie's own good.

Still, it packs enough of a comedy wallop to trigger lots of giggles, plus a few genuine guffaws, as it patrols a familiar beat.

Before we meet "The Other Guys," however, we have to meet the guys they long to be.

That would be Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson, the artist formerly known as The Rock), two New York supercops who excel at busting bad guys. (To say nothing of car fenders, windows and other private property.)

Naturally, Highsmith and Danson can't be bothered with anything as mundane as paperwork. That's what "The Other Guys" are for.

Which suits detective Allen Gamble (Ferrell) just fine.

A bespectacled, by-the-book desk jockey, Allen's perfectly happy to stay at his computer, taking no chances on anything remotely resembling action.

Unlike his hostile partner, Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg), who's itching to get back to the streets. Trouble is, trigger-happy Terry's notorious among his fellow cops -- and everyone else in New York -- for a mortifying misfire during a high-profile assignment. (There's a reason his fellow cops call him the "Yankee Clipper" -- and it isn't because he reminds them of Joe DiMaggio.)

Yet somehow these mismatched misfits manage to uncover possible dastardly doings involving a high-profile Wall Street whiz (dependably droll Steve Coogan).

Yes, it's one of those topical, ripped-from-the-headlines plotlines. Or maybe just ripped off from TV's "Law & Order."

But never mind. (Besides, it isn't until the closing credits -- featuring a series of thought-provoking factoids about the current economic meltdown -- that things really get serious.)

Most of the time, "The Other Guys" seems content to careen between action and comedy and back again, its odd-couple heroes bickering and bantering as they go.

And while the movie spins its wheels a bit more than necessary, the intermittent goofiness makes it easy enough to go along for the ride.

Especially when that ride takes you in some extremely offbeat directions. (Including Las Vegas, where "The Other Guys" spent a week on location last fall; all that's left is a blink-and-miss-it glimpse of the Strip, notably the Caesars Palace marquee touting then-headliner Bette Midler, plus a snippet of The Palazzo's "Jersey Boys" cast in action.)

One of the movie's recurring jokes involves the inexplicable appeal dweeby Allen holds for all sorts of steamy women -- including his own "plain" physician spouse (slyly insinuating Eva Mendes). Another centers on macho Terry's unsuspected sensitive side.

The script (credited to director McKay and Chris Henchy, co-creators of Ferrell's "Funny or Die" website) also leaves ample room for the movie's supporting cast to strut their collective comedic stuff, whether it's blustery Rob Riggle and smoothie Damon Wayans Jr. as rival detectives or wry Michael Keaton as the precinct's exasperated captain, Gene Mauch. (I'm not sure why Keaton's character shares a name with hard-luck baseball manager Mauch. Unless, of course, it has something to do with the fact that McKay's from Philadelphia and Ferrell's from Orange County -- and Mauch's 1964 Phillies and 1982 and 1986 California Angels all missed going to the World Series by one-game margins.)

Throughout, McKay (whose collaborations with Ferrell range from "Saturday Night Live" to "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights") has to slow down, and detour around, the movie's zanier elements. That way, his detectives can follow the clues -- and the audience can follow them. All of which makes watching "The Other Guys" a little like switching back and forth between two TV channels: one showing a "Starsky and Hutch" rerun, the other a "Saturday Night Live" cop-show parody.

Despite the occasional roadblocks, however, Ferrell and Wahlberg make a consistently, amusingly arresting team. Ferrell somehow manages to reconcile Allen's straight-arrow and off-kilter elements -- and stay in character -- while Wahlberg tempers his trademark intensity with deadpan flair.

Their detectives may be able to keep a straight face while making a name for themselves -- other than "The Other Guys," of course. But you probably won't -- and you probably won't mind at all.

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.