Step Brothers

With the hype vacuum created by the release of “The Dark Knight”, Will Ferrell’s latest has slipped somewhat under the radar.

By the time award season rolls around, critics and audiences alike should have recognized the brilliance of this story of two grown men experiencing life, love and happiness while trying to be loved by a world that isn’t ready for them.

Okay, maybe that’s going a little too far. Rather, “Step Brothers” is a comedy in the vein of Ferrell’s other movies such as “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Old School.”
His co-pilot on this magic carpet ride is John C. Reilly (“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “Chicago”), making this the duo’s second pairing after “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

Both of them are six-year-old children (although ones that wear Pablo Cruise and “Star Wars” t-shirts) trapped in grown-up bodies.

Unlike “Talladega Nights,” this movie doesn’t operate under the guise of a family flick, it earns its ‘R’ rating. Any time the plot threatens to get serious on us, something ridiculous or obscene happens, which keeps the laughs coming.

The script was penned by Ferrell and Adam McKay, who teamed up for “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights.” McKay also directed.

Ferrell and Reilly play two 40-year-old men (virgins?) who still live with their mother and father respectively. When the two parents get married, the bliss of their childish worlds suddenly changes.

Mary Steenburgen (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”) plays Ferrell’s mother, and Richard Jenkins (“Six Feet Under”) plays Reilly’s father. They create good screen chemistry with each other as well as Ferrell and Reilly.

Though the fact that they both have sons still living at home initially attracts them to one another, it soon becomes apparent that the arrangement won’t work.

The movie takes on the feel of an extended “Saturday Night Live” skit, which isn’t a bad thing. There is a reason why Ferrell was its highest paid cast member.

There are entire scenes which consist of nothing but traded insults between Reilly and Ferrell. It is clear that everyone involved in the movie had a great time filming it, and it becomes contagious.

Yes, it features Ferrell going to another level with his signature nudity. It also contains arguably the most awkward first kiss and brotherly hug in film history. Viewers will never be able to take the Guns ‘N’ Roses tune “Sweet Child o’ Mine” seriously again either.

It’s not ground-breaking, it’s not a cinematic tour-de-force, but it is a raunchy, funny movie, and it doesn’t try to be anything more than that.

If there is any lasting lesson to be taken, it’s that no matter how tough things get, there are always crossbows and Chewbacca masks to make it all better.

Rating - $10.00