David Ershon is the main antagonist turned anti-villain of the 2010 police comedy, The Other Guys. Ershon was the main antagonist for most of the film but was later outranked by the true main antagonist.
Ershon is played by Steve Coogan.
Overview
David Ershon is a billionaire businessman who loses billions of dollars for his business client Lendl Global, whose CEO Pamela Boardman hires mercenary Roger Wesley and his team to make sure he covers their losses. After avoiding Wesley, Ershon is arrested for a scaffolding permit violation by Detectives Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz, only to captured by Wesley and his team. When Gamble and Hoitz started to become suspicious of Ershon and tried interrogate him, Ershon convinced them to leave by bribing them with Knicks and concert tickets. When they both returned and planned to make talk with The "Good cop, Bad cop" routine, Ershon agrees to talk to Gamble believing he was the reasonable one. However, Allen mistakes it for "Bad Cop, Worst Cop", and attacks Ershon. After Allen and Terry are forced to hand over their evidence to Ershon's lawyer Don Beaman, he too becomes suspicious and starts asking questions, so Ershon has Wesley kill Beaman to make it look like a suicide. After learning that Ershon wasn't embezzling money from the lottery and that he was actually seducing a woman running the lottery, Allen and Terry go to Ershon's investment meeting to arrest him for connection to Beaman's murder, fraud and embezzlement and learn that Ershon is really embezzling from the NYPD pension funds. However, since they do not have a warrant Wesley and his team are allowed to shoot them, but Terry defends them and escapes with Ershon. They take Ershon back to his private apartment and Ershon confesses that $32 billion is already in his account and will be transferred the next day. In the morning, after escaping the NYPD (who were told Gamble and Hoitz went rogue), Wesley and his team, and investors from Nigeria and Chechnya whom Ershon also owes money, they attempt to stop the transfer at the bank. However, Wesley and his team arrive to try to stop them. When they defeat his team, Allen and Terry grab Ershon and tell Wesley that if he shoots them he'll kill Ershon and he won't get his money. However, Wesley wounds all of them, saying he's still worth something wounded. However, Captain Gene Mauch and the rest of the NYPD arrive and arrest both Ershon and Wesley. After the government learns of Ershon's scheme and Lendl Global's losses, they issue TARP funds to cover their losses. The narrator states that Ershon is now in Florida serving time in the Palomino Federal Correctional Facility. However, Ershon is making deals with cigarettes with his fellow inmates.
Gallery
Trivia
- Steve Coogan also portrayed Hades in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Coincidentally, both films came out in 2010.
- David is similar to Le Chiffre: They are wealthy businessmen who owe money to other people and are willing to steal to get it. Unlike Le Chiffre, David doesn't die.
- Ershon can be considered the anti-villain of film because he was willing to cooperate with Allen and Terry to stop the transfer.