An adequately entertaining comedy...

If you're accustomed to actor Will Ferrell's previous movies, or if you've viewed the trailer/s for Step Brothers, you should unquestionably be aware of what you're walking into if you make the decision to watch this film.

Audiences may remember Will Ferrell hitting the big screen in 2004 with the memorably hilarious Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. It wasn't long before teenagers started spouting quotes for hours at a time, and Anchorman became a cult phenomenon. The charm of the film was in the impeccable team of actors with terrific chemistry and the endless string of memorable quotes. In 2006, Will Ferrell teamed up with Anchorman director Adam McKay (who was a former Saturday Night Live writer) for the disappointing Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. That film supplied some laughs, but in the long run it lacked the charm of the Ferrell comedy vehicle preceding it. Not everything that Ferrell touches turns to gold. Semi-Pro, released earlier in 2008, was an example of this. The mediocre screenwriter for Semi-Pro ultimately gave Ferrell very little to work with, relied on his talents in the art of overacting, and left him to flounder on-screen. Step Brothers marks another collaboration of Will Ferrell and the forever-dependable Adam McKay. Actor John C. Reilly, who united with Ferrell in the aforementioned Talladega Nights, also joined the team. Reilly, Ferrell and McKay were all active contributors in conceiving the story and penning the screenplay. Although a few notches below Ron Burgundy and his memorable chums, Step Brothers is a return to form and a more relieving leap in the right direction.

Brennan (Ferrell) is a single, spoiled, repeatedly unemployed 39-year-old man still living at home with divorced mother Nancy (Steenburgen). Dale (Reilly) is 40 years old, single, usually unemployed and he's still mooching off his widowed affluent father Robert. At a business lecture, Robert meets Nancy and it's love at first sight. The two decide to get married and move in together. This decision unites Brennan and Dale who become step brothers. It's passionate loathing at first site. The antics of Dale and Brennan give new meaning to the words "sibling rivalry". Needless to say, what ensues is a hugely entertaining exercise in the art of randomness: improvised non-sequiturs, hysterical one-liners ("Your voice is a combination of Fergie and Jesus! I can't even look at you right now!") and an extremely repugnant situation during which Ferrell's (prosthetic) testicles rub against a drum set.

Step Brothers places itself in the very rare realm of R-rated comedies (as in an R rating from the MPAA). In recent years, PG-13 comedies have taken flight as it gives more money to the studio executives who endlessly keep a paranoid eye on the box office profits. Semi-Pro was another R-rated Ferrell comedy vehicle and it suffered due to misusing the rating. The profanity was kept to an absolute minimum when it could have permeated the dialogue far more for best effect. Step Brothers misuses the rating as it takes it as an opportunity to be vulgar to extremes. F-words are too frequent, and after a while it just isn't funny. This is to be expected, however, as Judd Apatow (does this guy ever sleep?!) was an executive producer. His previous efforts included Superbad, Knocked Up, Walk Hard, etc. This man single-handedly brought back the R-rated comedy craze. However, Apatow's movies are largely average. They outstay their welcome, and the excessive swearing spoils it. Step Brothers suffers a similar fate. Instead of gags regarding erections and sex that seem oddly innocent, we see Will Ferrell dragging his balls on a set of drums and licking a pile of white dog shit. No longer are McKay and Ferrell clever...now they're just employing vulgarities for a snigger.

The central problem of Step Brothers is dwelling on the laughs. The film is hysterical, and believe me I thoroughly enjoyed it, but there are virtually no other positives to be stated. During the middle section of the movie there are no attempts to advance an already thin plot. This section lives and dies by the amount of laughs. The trouble is that McKay and Ferrell also try to include serious moments. It dilutes the hilarity. Anchorman wanted to be nothing more than a succession of non-serious jokes. It was, and it succeeded because it's tremendously enjoyable. Step Brothers suffers the same fate as Talladega Nights: gags are funny but grow old, the film tries too many things, and there are too many serious scenarios. It's this that brings the film into the world of poor storytelling and pathetic clichés. We all know how the film will end no matter what transpires.

It must be said that Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are a perfect screen couple. The overwhelming chemistry allows the actors to carry a majority of the film. Their close camaraderie in real life is obvious from the outset. They fumble around, they poke fun at each other and one-up on each other's outbursts. Some may complain that Ferrell plays the same character in each movie. That's a given, though. At least Ferrell is good at his trademark overacting. With Step Brothers he's given more crude language to deliver. "You're a big, fat, curly-headed fuck!", "I tea-bagged your drum set!", "Holy Fucking Santa Claus Shit!", and many more. Ferrell is a delight to watch. Not as charming as the characters of Ron Burgundy or Ricky Bobby, but still funny.
John C. Reilly is similar. Whenever he's on the screen with Ferrell, they're usually doing hilarious stuff. Step Brothers would not have worked without this duo.
As the parents, Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins light up the screen. It's a tad difficult to believe that with all the shit Dale and Brennan respectively pull, they actually tolerate it (before the eventual marriage, that is). Steenburgen makes some of the vulgar lines sound like poetry. "What the fucking fuck?!" is an example of this.
Seth Rogen makes a brief but memorable cameo. You may remember him as Judd Apatow's go-to guy.

Overall, Step Brothers is everything I expected. I paid the price of cinema admission to be entertained and have a good laugh. The film succeeds in those objectives. I laughed until my stomach hurt. I was also entertained and had a great time. As a film, it ain't a masterpiece - nor was it ever meant to be. This could have worked better if it was a straightforward laugh riot like Anchorman; however the excess of seriousness slows things down. Also, with so much crude language there is little variety. All in all the film is a few levels above Talladega Nights, but far below the standard of Anchorman. If Adam McKay and Will Ferrell team up again, they should try something more subversive instead of playing it safe. If the rumoured Anchorman sequel goes ahead they may be able to more confidently remind us why we loved the partnership in the first place.

6.3/10