Step Brothers Review

Hey guys, thanks for checking out our Step Brothers review! I was uncertain about how this film would fly after the let down that was Semi Pro, so I tried to keep my expectations low. Mixed reviews were also swirling about Comic Con so I was curious on where i would sit within the spectrum. So without further ado, here is my Step Brothers review!

The General Idea

Two spoiled guys become competitive stepbrothers after their single parents get hitched.

The Good

This film was completely outlandish and totally absurd; I welcomed the nonsense with open arms. Will Ferell’s best work has always been when he delves deep into the caves of the ridiculous, and this film gave him an opportunity to excel at what he does best. As a man that loves the absurd, I was laughing loudly throughout the entire film.

Every actor in the film did an outstanding job with their characters. Will and John C. had amazing chemistry and were able to riff off of one another brilliantly. Mary Steenburgen was perfect as a doting mother that was trying to gently encourage the boys into manhood and Richard Jenkins plays a father at wit’s end who has all but given up hope on his adult children. The family works as the “straight man” for much of this film and they do an outstanding job. I want to go into many of the details about their family interaction, but I don’t want to spoil any surprises for anyone.

This film was crass and was better for it. When the mother stared to swear out of sheer frustration it was so damn funny, and there is no way they could have gotten as crazy as they did without the R rating. Letting these comedic mustangs roam free in the plain of Restriction was the correct choice.

The Bad

The film follows a formulaic plot and turns out exactly like you would expect it to. The journey is so ridiculous however, that this never really bothered me at all. In fact it was so outlandish in its delivery that the formula of problem, resolution, problem, solution was itself mocked along with everything else. I didn’t dislike much about his film, so I am reaching here.

Overall

I loved this movie, and am glad this crew made a film that suited their tastes and strengths. This is a movie that may divide people 50/50; and that suits me just fine. I thought Step Brothers was excellent and gladly give it an 8 out of 10. I laughed my ass off non stop for the entire film and look forward to discussing it with all of you! For fans of Will Ferrell’s more bizarre SNL sketches - you will be in for a treat.

13 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. aaron

    ive heard it was funny, i might see it today. so john, who stole the show, will or john c. reily?

  2. PADTHAI

    Comedy is a very subjective thing. I thought this was really unfunny, and a total waste of time. But then again, everyone else at the theater was laughing their asses off. I was just sitting there thinking what the heck is wrong with these people.

  3. Doug Nagy

    This is a love it or hate it film for sure.

    @ AARON - they were both great and worked so well off of one another that it would be unfair to declare one a victor

  4. aaron

    thanks doug

  5. aaron

    now thinking about it i agree completely

  6. Pudie

    The brothers wife stole the show.

    Im with Doug though. As long as you can appreciate the ridiculousness of it all, it’s a hilarious movie.

  7. Doug Nagy

    I don’t want to say anything about her, but her first “reveal” made me neigh piss my pants

  8. Grant

    It was an okay movie. I understand it was meant to be rediculous, but there are parts where it’s intelligently rediculous (i.e. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle) and then there’s a wrong way (i.e. Love Guru… shudder). The movie felt like it generally went in the wrong way, but there were still some good moments that made me laugh. I also agree with Doug that this was MUCH better than Semi Pro and that the actors played there parts fairly well. Not the best of the Apatow movies, but most certainly not the worst either.

  9. chris (the real one)

    i loved…. idiocy for the sake of comedy. watchin reilly and farrell curse and act like fools is good ol entertainment….laughed the whole way through…nothin better than boats and hos

  10. Sound Designer Dan

    boats and hos! boats and hos!

  11. Dave

    (Type your comment here. Make sure you’ve read the commenting rules before doing so)

    We thought it was a hilarious film!

    What was the name of the song that Will Ferrell sang at the helicopter presentation?

  12. Sound Designer Dan

    Ferrell sang “Con Te Partiro” an Andrea Bocelli song and he awesomely, totally fucking butchered it!

    Boats and hos!!! Boats and hos!!!!!!

  13. Tripp Van Easille

    It was so freaking hot in the Central Valley, Calif. that I was, er, forced to go to the movies. Originally intended to go see Pineapple Express but the coopin’(Thanks Ron White!) wasn’t good for it. Soooo I checked out “Step Brothers”. I was laughing so hard (along with every one else in the room!) I was coughing at points. I thought I’d die with the “tainting the drum kit” bit!
    I haven’t laughed that hard and often since I watched “Walk Hard”. At this point I’ll go see anything O’ Reilly has a writing credit on. Inspired, crude, rude, and bizarre! A great end to the summer film season, except for seeing Tropic Thunder. Kudos to both writrers in fact-inspired lunacy! This one is going to be tough to beat…a joke there somewhere. I might just see it twice!

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