Movie: "Step Brothers"
Year: 2008
Rated: R
Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Adam McKay
Writing credits: Will Farrell, John C. Reilly, Adam McKay

Reviewer: Dr. Boogie
Posted: 8/3/2008

Plot: Brennan and Dale are two 40-year-olds who have yet to move out of their parents' houses, or grow up at all. They become bitter rivals when their parents marry, but the rivalry is short-lived once they realize that they are oh so similar.

Review: I was a little hesitant to check out this movie after hearing how awful Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro were. I was pleasantly surprised by how funny this movie was. The previews don’t really do it justice, but then again they really can’t, given the content of most of the jokes.

Ferrell and Reilly play 40-something men who are, mentally, still around twelve. Some of the humor is derived just from this, but for the most part, the jokes are based good old fashioned crudeness. Will Ferrell manages to make just about every line work with his trademark overly serious, even simple remarks like calling Reilly a “curly-haired fuck.”

Reilly’s jokes tend to be more straightforward and dirty. Unexpected, yes, but still plenty dirty. Even jokes that merely involve him tend to be dirtier than the norm. I’d go into greater detail, but I was laughing too hard to remember most of them.

They even managed to stick in a few oddly surreal jokes in the mix, as well as a bit of male nudity. I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice to say, I hope it was just a realistic-looking prop.

The ending of the movie was pretty good, in that it kept with the general tone of the movie without dipping into cheesy sentimentality. I was disappointed that one of the more annoying characters didn’t get any real comeuppance, but they still made it work.

In terms of Will Ferrell movies, this one doesn’t quite match up to Anchorman, but it’s still a lot funnier than a lot of his more recent works. It’s well worth the price of admission, if for no better reason than to see the music video for step brothers’ song, “Boats ‘n Hoes”.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)