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Step Brothers

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Step Brothers (2008)

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Reviews Counted:175

Fresh:97

Rotten:78

Average Rating:5.5/10

Consensus: The relentless immaturity of the humor is not a total handicap for this film, which features the consistently well-matched talents of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual content, and pervasive language.

Runtime: 3 hrs 23 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Jul 25, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $100,468,793

Synopsis: 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... 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? [More]

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Adam Scott, Mary Steenburgen

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Adam Scott, Mary Steenburgen, Kathryn Hahn, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong

Director: Adam McKay

Director: Adam McKay
Screenwriter: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay
Story: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, John C. Reilly
Producer: Jimmy Miller, Judd Apatow
Composer: Jon Brion
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Release:

Dec 2, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Brennan Huff, a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy. Dale Doback, a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his father, Robert. 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.
  • Brennan (Will Ferrell) et Dale (John C. Reilly), deux fainéants d'âge moyen, sont contraints de vivre sous le même toit le jour où leurs parents se marient. Mais les singeries et les chicanes puériles des demi-frères au sujet de la télé ou d'objets personnels ont rapidement des effets néfastes sur le mariage, alors les deux pitres imaginent un plan farfelu pour réunir le couple.
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    Reviews for Step Brothers

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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    Step Brothers is a rowdy, rambunctious, fitful, against-the-wall comedy. Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and director writer Adam McKay heave comedy, like spaghetti, against the wall. About half sticks; the other half makes a real mess.

    Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment 1 Comment
    02/01/09
    Tony Macklin
    Tony Macklin
    Fayetteville Free Weekly

    ... surpreendente que, em meio a tanta estupidez, o filme seja realmente engraçado e consiga criar dois personagens tão carismáticos, chegando a incluir, aqui e ali, momentos que, de uma forma sutil, se revelam tocantes.

    comment Comment
    01/31/09
    Pablo Villaca
    Pablo Villaca
    Cinema em Cena

    It's one joke, already predictable, and it gets old fast.

    Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
    01/19/09
    Jeffrey Chen
    Jeffrey Chen
    Window to the Movies

    ...flat-out entertaining...

    Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment 1 Comment
    12/21/08
    David Nusair
    David Nusair
    Reel Film Reviews

    Only occasionally funny and about three times as long as the material justifies, it's boring and just a little bit embarrassing to sit through.

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment 4 Comments
    12/02/08
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide

    When Step Brothers is funny, it's hilarious. But when it isn't funny, the second hand of your watch sounds peculiarly loud.

    Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
    10/29/08
    Jeffrey Westhoff
    Jeffrey Westhoff
    Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

    On its own terms, Step Brothers is hilarious. But it's a shame that the filmmakers didn't have more faith in the audience. Why resort to gross-out tactics when your premise is strong enough to allow for a more sophisticated approach?

    Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Calvin Wilson
    Calvin Wilson
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch

    Unremittingly juvenile and irredeemably funny.

    Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Tom Charity
    Tom Charity
    CNN.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    There is also a general sloppiness to the screenplay, which introduces elements that have no real pay-off.

    Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    James Kendrick
    James Kendrick
    Q Network Film Desk

    No one can play a 40-year-old obliviously immature man-child like Will Ferrell.

    Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Rebecca Murray
    Rebecca Murray
    About.com

    It's clear that much of what is on the screen is there because writers Ferrell and McKay found it funny, not because it serves the plot.

    Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
    10/03/08
    The Australian

    A sometimes amusing, occasionally hilarious summer laugh fest.

    Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
    10/01/08
    Pete Hammond
    Pete Hammond
    Hollywood.com

    Like toothpaste from a tube, every last laugh is squeezed from this absurd premise, where both men pushing forty act like they're 14. Surprisingly, it's enough to make it work.

    Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment Comment
    09/19/08
    Jason Di Rosso
    Jason Di Rosso
    MovieTime, ABC Radio National

    Thanks to their ability to convincingly portray adults who have never emotionally advanced beyond their pre-adolescent years, Ferrell and Reilly perfectly inhabit these obnoxious yet hilarious characters.

    Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
    09/19/08
    Pauline Adamek
    Pauline Adamek
    FILMINK (Australia)

    Despite valiant efforts from a seasoned cast, it fails to deliver the expected laughs.

    Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | comment 2 Comments
    09/19/08
    Vicky Roach
    Vicky Roach
    Daily Telegraph (Australia)

    One thing spoils the mood: for all the joy that Ferrell and Reilly take in brawling or whimpering like two-year-olds, immaturity is still seen as something to be overcome.

    Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
    09/19/08
    Jake Wilson
    Jake Wilson
    The Age (Australia)

    Between occasional guffaws and more frequent hand-over-mouth, oh-my-God moments, I started to think about where American comedy has come from and where it's going.

    Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment 1 Comment
    09/19/08
    Paul Byrnes
    Paul Byrnes
    Sydney Morning Herald

    Painful to watch, this Will Ferrell vehicle is crude, infantile and unfunny as it hovers around its one-tone premise in which two grown men behave like kids %u2013 and vile ones at that

    Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
    09/15/08
    Louise Keller
    Louise Keller
    Urban Cinefile

    There is a plot, but it only exists to give Ferrell and Reilly some focus for their juvenilia. While this sounds like a negative comment, it's actually not.

    Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
    09/08/08
    Karina Montgomery
    Karina Montgomery
    Cinerina

    If someone farts in your presence and it smells like 'ketchup and onions', do you a) snigger like a child, b) leave the room or c) vomit? If it's 'b' or 'c', do not see this movie. If it's 'a', book your tickets right now - you'll laugh yourself stupid.

    Full Review Source: Mansized | comment 2 Comments
    09/01/08
    Chris Laverty
    Chris Laverty
    Mansized
     
     
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