After hearing mixed reviews for Step Brothers I decided to go see it for myself. Going in with expectations that weren’t set very high, I was pleasantly surprised. Step Brothers was definitely the best Will Ferrell movie since Talladega Nights, which isn’t really saying much. Semi-Pro and Blades of Glory were just mediocre at best, but Step Brothers delivers a lot of good laughs.
Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay are funny dudes. They came up with a pretty good script about two 40-year-old men, Dale and Brennan, who still live with their single parents. The parents marry and the two grown men, who act like mentally challenged children, move in together and become stepbrothers.
The brothers start out being enemies, which is pretty damn funny, especially when Brennan in messing with Dale’s drum set. It’s when they stop being enemies and realize they should be best friends, this is when the movie starts to pick up. The funniest part is when they are interviewing for jobs; there is a nice little cameo by Seth Rogen, which makes for a hilarious scene. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly work very well together. You can tell a lot for their scenes together are improv and I think it works for the first hour of the movie. It does start to get old near the end, and this is when the story begins to drag.
I also did not really like Brennan’s younger, more successful asshole brother, Derek, played by Adam Scott (Art School Confidential, Knocked up – he played a male nurse). There was just something about this guy that pissed me off. I just wanted to punch him in the face. I guess he was good at being an asshole. Then there was Dr. Robert Doback played by Richard Jenkins (Fun with Dick and Jane, The Kingdom). Jenkins turned out to be pretty funny. It was strange to see him play such a serious role in The Visitor, and then turn to this role as a foul-mouthed goofy father.
So if you’re a fan of Ferrell and Reilly, and in the mood for some goofy slapstick humor, then give Step Brothers a shot. I guarantee you will come out of the theater feeling like a lightning bolt struck the tip of your penis. Haha!
imdb – 7.2
Rotten Tomatoes – 50%
moviewiseguys – 7.5
Good flick, but not quite a made movie.
August 1, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Step Brothers was pretty damn funny. But from the trailers I thought it was going to be the funniest movie of the summer and I dont think it will be now. Now its gotta be a toss up between Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder. I havent seen either. I’m more pumped for Pineapple though. I like the Rogen-Goldberg writing team.
September 2, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Boats and Hoes, Boats and Hoes………
Speaking from the Hyman Roth camp of moviewiseguys….this movie was great. Especially the ending.
Also hidden reference to Dehart/Danze in this movie.