'The Other Guys' (PG-13) (out of four)

Oh, no, not another Will Ferrell movie. But, wait. This one is inspired, funny, improvisational and quick-witted with some of the best one-liners since "Airplane." Team that with a surreal casting choice pitting Ferrell opposite Mark Wahlberg, and "The Other Guys" is one of the most hilarious comedies to come along in a while.

The movie kicks off with Detective Danson (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson") and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson), the coolest and proudest heroes of the N.Y.P.D. Their every move is Kardashian-calculated so that the paparazzi comes running for their on-the-spot press conferences. On this particular day, they've practically destroyed Gotham, chasing some small-time criminals yet racking up billions of dollars in damage. Just put it on the citizens' tab, because these guys are rock stars.

Then there are "the other guys." Ferrell plays Allen Gamble, a Toyota Prius-driving, Little River Band-listening, accountant type who enjoys his detective work done safely behind a desk. He's teamed with Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) who hasn't been let loose on the street since he made a bad move at a Yankees game (wait until you see this funny cameo). His fellow detectives won't let him live it down, and his being paired with Gamble is not only unlucky, but daily punishment.

When Danson and Highsmith meet their demise (shockingly riotous), Hoitz sees an opening. He is determined to get his respect back, and he's not going to let Gamble get in his way. If he can just crack one big case, he'll be back in the saddle. That case involves a plucked-from-the-news Ponzi scheme (can you say Bernie Madoff?) with a crooked financial advisor, David Ershon (Steve Coogan). If that seems a bit too white collar for these two, it's perfect fodder for running gags. Hoitz thinks the Federal Reserve is the slammer, and Gamble keeps getting taken in by Ershon's offers of great Broadway show tickets and courtside seats to the New York Knicks.

And the hits just keep on coming, which is exactly what good comedy should be; each time these two turn a corner, there's something just a little more bizarre for the audience in store. Ice T narrates segments in voiceover with an earnestness that makes you believe this cop movie is the real deal. Eva Mendes shows comedy flair as Gamble's knock-out wife (she's scalding hot, Hoitz says) as she convincingly plays a NBA cheerleader turned top New York doctor who met her husband during his bad boy days as a pimp. Ferrell wearing grills? Now that is hilarious.

Michael Keaton as Police Captain Mauch adds to the silliness (he's on par with Lloyd Bridge's oddball recurring character Steve McCroskey in "Airplane"). He quotes '90s girlband TLC without even realizing it. "Don't go chasing waterfalls," he tells the boys. He moonlights as the manager of a Bed Bath & Beyond, mixing up his roll calls and discussing a serial rapist with the bedding store's staff.

Director Adam McKay, who wrote the movie with Chris Henchy, knows where to get the laughs. He's worked with Ferrell since their "SNL" days adding all sorts of ridiculousness to "Anchorman," "Step Brothers and "Talladega Nights," but with "The Other Guys" it looks like he's graduated from some of the sophomoric humor that bogged down those films. This buddy cop send up deserves a seat at the head of the comedy class.