This week at the movies, Will Ferrell reunites with director Adam McKay (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights) to get absurd on the buddy cop comedy (The Other Guys, co-starring Mark Wahlberg), street dancing busts a move into the third dimension (Step Up 3D) and the Internet becomes a haven for porn entrepreneurs (Middle Men). What do the critics have to say?
When writer-director Adam McKay and star Will Ferrell get together, there are usually guaranteed laughs to be had — no matter how scatological the movie. The “Funny or Die” team scored hits with Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, and if the review consensus is anything to go by, it looks like The Other Guys will join them. Critics are saying that, although the film uses the old buddy cop plot as a template, there are enough jokes to keep the hilarity consistent, while Ferrell and Wahlberg make for a winning pair of mismatched detectives. And don’t forget to check out our rundown of Wahlberg’s best-reviewed films in this week’s Total Recall.
Street dancing is the latest movie genre to get the three-dimensional cinema treatment, with this sequel to the hits Step Up and Step Up 2 the Streets blasting out from screens like so many laser fingers. But while the dancing and choreography are undoubtedly impressive, many critics are suggesting that the more rudimentary elements — plot, character, acting — get lost on the dance floor. More attention to story and character, they say, might have helped the film’s drama service its spectacular dancing.
Also opening this week in limited release:
Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl, a tale of romantic obsession from centenarian Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, is at 100 percent.
Lebanon, based on the true story of an Israeli mission gone awry in the 1982 Lebanon War, is at 73 percent.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed, a thriller about a woman who turns the tables on her kidnappers, is at 77 percent.
The Wildest Dream, a documentary about one of the earliest attempts to climb Mt. Everest, is at 67 percent.
Cairo Time, starring Patricia Clarkson as a woman who finds love while on vacation, is at 65 percent.
Brotherhood, a drama about a gay neo-Nazi couple, is at 60 percent.
The Sicilian Girl, based on the true story of a woman who ratted out her Mafia family, is at 60 percent.
Middle Men, starring Luke Wilson and Giovanni Ribisi in a comedy about the early days of the internet porn business, is at 48 percent.
Spring Fever, a drama about a strange love triangle in China, is at 45 percent.
The Oxford Murders, starring Elijah Wood and John Hurt as two men who join forces to solve a series of killings, is at 17 percent.
Twelve, starring Chace Crawford as a privileged high school drug dealer who’s reflecting on his life, is at 10 percent.
