Fratellastri a 40 anni

This was quite a funny movie. Of course the entire premise is utterly ridiculous, two "grown men" ages 39 and 40, still job-less, living with their parents? It seemed to me that these two guys acted like 9 year-olds, but that is what makes it funny. I think this movie was even funnier than Talladega Nights, Ferrell & Reilly's first collaboration.

There was a very thin and outrageous plot, but it lent itself to tons of improvisation, and in turn creating some of the ridiculous scenes, circumstances, and dialog. And seeing Mary Steenburgen curse like a sailor was hysterical. Ferrell and Reilly both play their characters to the hilt, as does Adam Scott, the evil younger brother, and his insane wife played by Kathryn Hahn. Overall there is an equal amount of slapstick, dialog, and potty humor (well okay, probably a bit heavier on the potty humor).

Though the movie itself is very hysterical, there are also some equally good bloopers, cut scenes, etc. on the DVD bonus materials. These are as hysterical as the movie was. I highly recommend renting the DVD and watching the extra features.

There's a difference between Step Brothers and Baby Mama. Step Brothers is not up to par with the best work of the Will Ferrell-Adam McKay writing team, but it is not like Baby Mama in the sense that it has made me lost faith in the brand. Many critics seem to not know the difference. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby made 7 films together. Would critics have given this film a bigger pass if Will Ferrell and John C Reiley's film were called Talladega Nights II? What I'm getting it is I thought this film was plenty funny and certainly inventive enough. In fact, I stayed in the theater and watched it twice. The big stars of the film are not John C Reilly and Will Ferrell but Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins for holding down straight faces and being convincing as a loving dad and a loving mom of such silly characters. You could insert the characters played by Jenkins and Steenburgen into something like Cheaper by the Dozen or Gilmore Girls and it would still pretty much work.

Step Brothers (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play spoiled brats who are still living at home with their parents. Ferrell lives with his mother (Mary Steenburgen) and Reilly his father (Richard Jenkins) but when the four move in together after the parent's marriage all hell breaks loose as the new step brothers can't seem to get along. Sometimes I can't understand mainstream critics who seem to walk into R-rated comedies and get upset that they're not watching some screwball comedy from the 1930s. Is this film stupid? Yes. Is the film raunchy? Yes. Is the film at times mean spirited? Yes. None of those yes marks matter because in the end the film is funny and that's the main thing. If you want a thinking man's movie then you might want to go elsewhere but if you want to laugh then this film offers up plenty to enjoy. I've never been a big fan of Ferrell but I thought he was terrific here as the lazy bum who can't stand to be out on his own. Reilly is equally great and putting the two together makes for some great chemistry as the two really know how to play off one another. I think a big key for the film are the supporting performances by Steenburgen and Jenkins as their straight forward approach to their "kids" makes for plenty of laughs and their constant struggle to stay sane is something I'm sure many parents could relate to. The film is full of dirty dick jokes, masturbation jokes and various other sexual jokes but I found myself laughing extremely hard. The first thirty minutes had tears running down my face but after that the thin plot shines through with most of the jokes being hit and miss but at the end I certainly laughed more times than I didn't so that makes this a winner in my book.

A lot of these reviews are really harsh. This movie is a pretty decent comedy. Yeah the plot is paper thin, but that's definitely not the point of the movie. John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell are a great duo and it's got a lot of laughs. It doesn't run too long, which is perfect. Just overall a solid movie. 8/10.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie: my inner 12 year-old loves this movie. Or at least parts of it. Whenever Will Ferrell and John C Reilly are at war, it sends me into a fit of giggles - and totally feels like they'd ad-libbed half this stuff. It's when these scenes are awkwardly melded into the overall family story that the humor starts to go flat; despite the cast involved.

That said, Rob Riggle steals every one of his scenes. And Reilly's random "Boats and hoes!" outbursts has been in my head for ten years now.

It's so lovably dumb.