After satirizing the worlds of newscasting and NASCAR with Anchorman and Talladega Nights, respectively, Adam McKay and Will Ferrell took aim at the buddy cop genre with 2010’s The Other Guys. Conceived as a showcase for Ferrell’s on-screen chemistry with Mark Wahlberg, The Other Guys combined a lampoon of police thrillers with an incisive critique of the then-ongoing financial crisis.

It ended up being one of McKay’s funniest movies, filled with hilarious lines delivered by Ferrell and Wahlberg’s mismatched detectives and the colorful supporting players that surround them.

10 “You Turned My Beautiful Prius Into A Nightmare!” – Allen

When Allen and Terry first try to arrest David Ershon, his goons stop them in the street and take their shoes, their perp, and Allen’s new Prius. Eventually, his Prius is discovered containing a note from a group called “Dirty Mike and the boys” thanking the driver for providing a location for their orgy.

Later in the movie, Allen bumps into Dirty Mike and the boys out on the town and complains that they turned his prized hybrid car, the first brand-new car he ever bought, into “a nightmare.” For somebody as prudish and mild-mannered as Allen, this is a worst-case scenario.

9 “I’m A Peacock, You Gotta Let Me Fly!” – Terry

While Allen specifically chose a desk job to avoid danger, Terry is only stuck behind a desk because he’s been suspended from working on the streets. He’s desperate to get back out in the field and constantly tells his superiors, “I’m a peacock, you gotta let me fly!”

After Terry has used the peacock metaphor a handful of times throughout the movie, Captain Gene finally has to tell him, “Terry, peacocks don’t fly!” Allen claims they might be able to fly a little if they get a running start.

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8 “If I Wanna Hear You Talk, I’ll Shove My Arm Up Your A** And Work Your Mouth Like A Puppet!” – Highsmith

The opening scenes of The Other Guys introduce hotshot detectives Danson and Highsmith, played by a cameoing Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson. Danson and Highsmith are the kind of high-octane renegades seen in movies like Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and Point Break. Allen, Terry, and everybody else are just “the other guys.”

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When Highsmith thanks the other guys for their contributions, Allen kindly says, “And we’d do it again and again.” Highsmith suddenly snaps into signature Samuel L. Jackson rage and yells at Allen, “Hey, you shut your face!”

7 “Christinith! You Idiot! You Come To Our House, You Get My Wife’s Name Right!” – Christinith’s Husband

There’s a running joke throughout The Other Guys that every woman Allen has ever dated is out of his league. During the investigation, Allen and Terry have to pay a visit to Allen’s ex-girlfriend Christinith, played by Justified’s Natalie Zea.

Her husband, played by Stranger Things’ Brett Gelman, makes Allen and Terry very uncomfortable. He wants Allen to sleep with his wife and he erupts in a fit of rage when Terry mispronounces Christinith’s unusual name.

6 “Pimps Don’t Cry.” – Sheila

Allen met his wife Sheila during his early life as a pimp with the pseudonym “Gator.” When his pimping days come back to haunt him, Sheila cradles Allen and softly sings a song called “Pimps Don’t Cry.”

This brief musical number has a great juxtaposition of lullaby-style singing and illicit subject matter. Eva Mendes recorded a studio version of this song with CeeLo Green and even shot a music video for it to promote the movie.

5 “You D***! I’m Derek Jeter, You Shot Me!” – Derek Jeter

Throughout The Other Guys, Terry attends therapy sessions for officers who accidentally fired their gun on duty because he shot Derek Jeter while working security at a Yankees game. Everybody else in the therapy group is annoyed with him because Jeter couldn’t play after being shot and they ended up losing money on the game.

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In a flashback to the incident, Terry nervously pulls his weapon on a figure lurking around the stadium. When the person doesn’t respond, Terry fires. As it turns out, it’s just Derek Jeter listening to music. He bluntly says, “I’m Derek Jeter, you shot me!”

4 “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls.” – Captain Gene

There’s a running joke throughout The Other Guys involving Captain Gene, played by Michael Keaton, unintentionally quoting TLC songs. When he uses phrases like “I don’t want no scrubs,” and “Don’t go chasing waterfalls,” Allen and Terry assume he’s quoting TLC, but he has no idea what they’re talking about.

According to MTV, McKay has explained the meaning behind this gag: “We came up with a whole backstory that he drove his son to college and his son played a TLC greatest hits CD the whole time, but the captain was never aware what he was listening to.”

3 “Aim For The Bushes.” – Danson

After the opening scenes of The Other Guys have established that Danson and Highsmith are the best cops in New York, they chase some perps onto the roof of a skyscraper, where the bad guys have a zipline prepared to get them down to the ground.

When they cut the zipline, Danson and Highsmith’s options are limited. Danson says, “Aim for the bushes,” and the two both jump to their deaths. There aren’t even any bushes in sight – they just land right on the sidewalk. As classical action heroes, Danson and Highsmith have avoided certain doom so many times that they think they’re invincible (and, of course, they’re not).

2 “Bye, Sheila!” – Terry

When Terry meets Sheila, he doesn’t believe she’s Allen’s wife. Even after they’ve told him countless times, he still believes she’s too beautiful to be married to Allen and that he’s being pranked. Suffice to say, Terry takes much more of a liking to Sheila than he does to Allen, and he makes that abundantly clear when he leaves their house and only says goodbye to Sheila.

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Allen keeps trying to say goodbye to Terry, but his partner just replies, “Bye, Sheila!” Allen thinks Terry can’t hear him, so he keeps saying goodbye even louder, but Terry just responds, “Bye, Sheila!”

1 “I Think We All Experienced Our Own Ballet Today. A Ballet Of Emotion.” – Allen

When Terry goes down to his ex-girlfriend Francine’s ballet studio in a bid to win her back, Allen follows him and tries to help. Terry thinks the ballet studio is a strip club and reveals that he learned to be a master ballerina when he was a boy to make fun of another kid.

Every time Allen tries to help out his partner – like saying, “We all experienced our own ballet today” – he just hurts Terry’s chances of getting back together with Francine. She even points this out: “You’re kind of making things worse.” As usual, Ferrell nails the character’s cluelessness.

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About The Author


Ben Sherlock
(3458 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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