| | | They Grow Up So Fast.
Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) is a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen). Dale Doback (John C. Reilly) is a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his father, Robert (Richard Jenkins). When Robert and Nancy marry and move in together, Brennan and Dale are forced to live with each other as step brothers. As their narcissism and downright aggressive laziness threaten to tear the family apart, these two middle-aged, immature, overgrown boys will orchestrate an insane, elaborate plan to bring their parents back together. To pull it off, they must form an unlikely bond that maybe, just maybe, will finally get them out of the house.
"There is too much funny here for a movie (even though it continues into the closing credits). Step Brothers should be a TV show." Kyle Smith, New York Post
"...the closest that the Apatow factory has come to spitting out a dumb-and-dumber high-concept comedy." Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"...[an] astute commentary on how we define such abstract concepts as "growing up" and "making something of yourself."" Scott Foundas, The Village Voice
"Stupid, crude and hilarious, Step Brothers works by sneaking past our better judgment." Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
"[An] inspired pairing of "Talledega's" Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, two actors smart enough to play dumb and make it work." TV Guide
Editor's Note
While nearly all Will Ferrell's films are enjoyable on some level, they tend to fire on all cylinders when Adam McKay is involved. McKay co-wrote and directed ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY and TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY, two of Ferrell's most popular and consummately hilarious films. McKay reteamed with not only Ferrell for STEP BROTHERS, but also Ferrell's co-star in TALLADEGA NIGHTS, John C. Reilly (who has steadily proven himself to be one of Hollywood's most versatile actors); and though STEP BROTHERS may be the most threadbare of the three movies on which the duo have collaborated, it's arguably their best.The plot is about as simple as they come: Brennan Huff (Ferrell) and Dale Doback (Reilly) are deadbeat man-children thrown together when the single parents with whom they live marry. The two initially despise one another, but become fast friends over a shared love of ninjas, COPS, porno mags, and the comforts of living in the fantasy world of a prolonged adolescence. What makes STEPBROTHERS so much fun, however, has nothing to do with story or script; rather, it's McKay's foresight to step back and let Ferrell and Reilly run wild. The duo kick and punch, fart and burp, laugh and cry, yet somehow elevate such banalities to a level of grotesque poetry, hitting upon what feels like an entirely new comedic language. When the pair act like children, they are not presenting themselves as immature adults, but are literally acting like children, meticulously duplicating everything from the fears and concerns to the speech patterns and awkward physicality of children. It sounds simple enough, but it requires a dexterity and sense of timing and delivery that is actually quite amazing. In the end, STEP BROTHERS is really nothing more than an absurd comedy; then again, isn't that what they called WAITING FOR GODOT?
| Features | Audio Commentary With Filmmakers & Cast | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: French | | Includes Both Original Theatrical & Unrated Extended Versions Of The Film! | | Interactive Menus | | Line-O-Rama | | Music Video: "Boats 'N Hoes" | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Step Brothers - DVD Review By: Sean O'Connell - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 11/21/2008 4:31 PM | |
It's no stretch to call Adam McKay's Step Brothers the year's stupidest film. Part of me feels bad labeling it as such, but then I remember that no movie boasting scenes of a grown man licking dog feces really wants to be taken seriously on any level. And yet, I'd be lying if I told you Brothers didn't make me laugh. ...read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Columbia/tri-Star |
| Release Date: 5/5/2009 |
| Running Time: 105 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2008 | | Catalog ID: 28128 | | UPC: 00043396281288 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Adam Scott | | John C. Reilly | | Kathryn Hahn | | Mary Steenburgen | | Will Ferrell | | Richard Jenkins | | Judd Apatow - Producer | | Hal Willner - Music Supervisor | | Will Ferrell - Screenwriter | | Oliver Wood - Director of Photography | | Brent White - Editor | | David Householter - Executive Producer | | Will Ferrell - Story | | Susan Matheson - Costume Designer | | Jimmy Miller - Producer | | Adam McKay - Screenwriter | | Jon Brion - Composer | | Adam McKay - Story | | Clayton Hartley - Production Designer | | John C. Reilly - Story | | Adam McKay - Director |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"Starting at infantile and regressing hysterically from there, STEP BROTHERS flies on the comic chemistry of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly." 08/07/2008 p.99Empire
3 stars out of 5 -- "Ferrell and Reilly are a superb double-act, Reilly's cockiness meshing well with Ferrell's puppy dog innocence." 09/01/2008 63 Premiere
"STEP BROTHERS...is like the guys were just let loose to run around in brightly colored briefs and vintage tee-shirts....The ludicrous situations call for equally ludicrous behavior and statements..." 07/24/2008 ReelViews 5 of 10
When did Will Ferrell stop being funny? It wasn't that long ago that this Saturday Night Live alum looked to be following in the footsteps of the likes of Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler but, somewhere along the way, Ferrell's train derailed. Now, once again paired with John C. Reilly, he tries so hard and with so little effect to make us laugh that the result is almost physically painful. Few films are worse to sit through than comedies that don't work. Step Brothers is one of those. Humor is subjective, but this movie made me feel as if I had been subjected to something unpleasant...The screenplay for Step Brothers is not completely devoid of intelligence, although it comes close. The moments of cleverness are sprinkled lightly throughout, and are threatened to be overwhelmed by the waste assailing them on all sides...Judd Apatow has his name on the film, but Step Brothers' failure in generating laughter or provoking us to care on any level about these two puerile, annoying characters, demonstrates that his reputation as a cinematic Midas of R-rated comedies is overrated...Apatow is only listed as a producer, not a writer. That credit goes to Ferrell and his longtime collaborator, Adam McKay, who also directs. Considering how ingrained Ferrell's fingerprints are on everything to do with this movie, it's impossible to exonerate him of the stench. Step Brothers is as big a misstep as this ex-SNL giant has taken. - James Berardinelli
Rolling Stone 7 of 10
Starting at infantile and regressing hysterically from there, Step Brothers flies on the comic chemistry of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. They riffed on the baby Jesus in Talladega Nights. Now they're goofing on grown men who stay babies. Are you ready to see Ferrell rub his hairy nut sack on Reilly's drum set? You better be. Step Brothers, directed by Adam McKay from a story by McKay, Ferrell and Reilly (so you know who to hold responsible), pushes its R rating to the merry max. I'd better explain. Ferrell plays Brennan Huff, 39, a sleepwalker and chronic masturbator who lives with his divorced mom (Mary Steenburgen). Reilly plays Dale Doback -- even more of a slacker, since he's a year older -- who lives with his widowed dad (Richard Jenkins). When the parents marry, Brennan and Dale are forced to co-exist and, yikes, get jobs. Chaos follows, much of it funny-gut-busting, some of it funny not so much. Dale has major rage issues (kid bullies beat him up). Brennan blubbers when insulted as a "mangina" (his slow descent into tears at dinner is priceless)...Producer Judd Apatow (does this guy ever sleep?) calls Step Brothers a "demented version of The Parent Trap -- with dick jokes." Close enough. But the movie is too good-natured to drown in raunch. Says Dale, beating his drums as Brennan sings Josh Groban (don't ask), "I'm gonna make beautiful music for a sad world." In their own irresistibly idiotic way, Ferrell and Reilly do just that. - Peter Travers
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