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Step Brothers

Step Brothers
Step Brothers
What it's about:

Thirty-something losers Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) and Dale Doback (John C. Reilly) both live at home with their single parents. When Brennan’s mom meets Dale’s dad and they decide to marry, the two are forced to live together, with disastrous results.

What we thought:

A good 90% of my esteemed colleagues in the press walked out of this film. I don’t blame them. This time, Ferrell and his lackeys have really dropped the ball.

Brennan Huff and Dale Doback, the story goes, never really grew up. On this evidence, neither have Will Ferrell or John C. Reilly. Aiming squarely for the "so stupid it’s funny" niche created by superior spoofs like Anchorman and Talladega Nights, it’s a movie that pins far too much hope on the "novelty" of seeing grown-ups act like sixteen-year-old buffoons. By the time Brennan Huff rubbed his testicles against his step brother’s drum kit, I had given up hope of seeing the great American (teen) comedy.

At this point, some guy with glazed eyes might chime in: "You just don’t get it, dude, it’s like, ironic." Irony my butt. Even stoners have better things to do than watch these goofs rap "Deadliest Catch without the crabs/ We're almost out of gas/ Call the Arabs!" in their shocking music video project, "Boats 'n Hos".

Admittedly, hitting the funny bone is a tough job, and this particular brand of humour is a high risk affair. Who would have guessed that "I love lamp" would be such a conversation piece before Steve Carrell said it in Anchorman?

One feels that if Ferrell and Reilly’s childish instincts had been reined in a bit, maybe polished and scripted more thoroughly, we might have actually been treated to a few chuckles.

Sadly, you’d have to wait till the very, very end to see anything remotely funny. But by then, you might be the only one left in the theatre.

Niel Bekker

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