If all these clips from “Funny or Die” are any indication, there’s going to be a hell of a lot of extras on the “Step-Brothers” DVD. Most of the scenes from this “job montage” sequence aren’t in the final cut (or at least not in full) of the Will Ferrell/ John C. Reilly- starring comedy which we saw late last week and even just looking at a lot of the press photos from the film you can spot scenes that weren’t in the final version.
We did a brief preview of the film last week and now that we’ve had a second to marinate on it, we basically feel the same as we did then and this is basically our review. Directed by Adam Mckay and produced by Judd Apatow, as we mentioned before, “Step Brothers” is spectacularly dumb and perhaps the most outrageous and vulgar Mckay/Apatow film in a long time (or ever?) We sort of forgot this film was R-Rated, but much of the puerile comedy in the film totally took us off guard and practically had our jaws on the floor sometimes. We sort of figured with Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins the film would be rooted in some kind of reality, but it was pretty silly and preposterous throughout much to its benefit and loss.
We’re not sure we can say it was “good,” per se but we also laughed a hell of a lot. And we could also never fault anyone that loved it or hated it though, but we kind of figure it’s going to be polarizing with critics. The ending was remarkably absurd and it felt similar in tone to the end of “40 Year-Old Virgin.” But whereas that silly musical scene at the end was something that essentially rolled over the credits, ‘Brothers’ ridiculous conclusion was actually part of the story. In the last 10-15 minutes or so, it’s like the filmmakers went, “fuck it,” tore the script in half and joyfully tossed it into the air for better or worse. The movie was stupid and infantile as all get out, but it was certainly funny as balls most of the time too (with some lapses here and there). For the rest of our thoughts on the film and most of the music featured in the comedy (which is pretty good), read this. [B-]
Yes, it was funnier/better than “Semi-Pro,” but if you put a gun to our head, we think we enjoyed “You Don’t Mess With Zohan” more if you can believe it. Either way, if you’re a fan of these films, we recommend you go, but keep your expectations in semi-check and you’ll have a good time. “Step Brothers” arrives in theaters this Friday, July 25.
