Step Brothers reunites the creative team of writer/director Adam McKay and stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly—who all previously brought us the Nascar laugh-fest Talladega Nights in 2006.  In this film, Ferrell and Reilly play 40-year-olds who still live at home with their respective single parents and are forced to share space when their parents get married.  Sounds like something that might make a great Saturday Night Live sketch—and it would; but as a feature-length comedy, it runs a little short on laughs.

Ferrell is Brennan Huff, a self-proclaimed beautiful singer who has refused to sing in front of anyone since his cocky younger brother Derek embarrassed him at a high school talent show.  Reilly is Dale Doback, a man who still walks around all day in his underwear and has an obsession with his drum set.  They are both jobless with unhealthy attachments to their parents, and both approach their parent’s new union with a strong sense of jealousy.

This jealousy is only enhanced by their immediate dislike for each other—and the catastrophic fact that they are now being forced to share a room.  They do what they can to make each other’s lives miserable; but when Derek arrives and incites Dale to take a swing at him, the pair quickly realizes that they have something in common and quickly become inseparable best friends.  They even tag-team the job interviews that their parents set up for them, with dastardly results.

They decide to combine their singing and drumming skills to create a new entertainment company, but when their ill-advised antics separate their parents (played by Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen), the mutual blame drives them to be bitter enemies once again.

Step Brothers is a step-up from Ferrell’s earlier basketball comedy Semi-Pro, mostly because Reilly’s presence gives Ferrell someone with whom he can share the insanity.  After all, Ferrell’s antics may be funny; but by themselves they can be a bit overwhelming for an audience. His better films—Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Old School—give someone else a cut of the laughs and a fair share of screen time.

As usual, Ferrell is completely fearless and willing to go to any extreme to mine some comedy. But, honestly, there are certain parts of his anatomy that I just don’t want to see.  Now, I understand the double standard in Hollywood in which female anatomy is okay to showcase while male nudity is stringently frowned upon.  I’m not saying that is fair—but generally it is not the female genitalia that is being flaunted!  I’m okay with nudity on screen—male or female—when it’s done skillfully and effectively (see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, for instance), but in this case it’s just plain disturbing.

The film’s first half is full of enough laughs to keep it going, but it really loses focus in the final act when Dale and Brennan must go through their inevitable character transitions.  After all, even a Will Ferrell character needs an arc.  Unfortunately, here the transition is so sudden, unbelievable, and hokey that it just doesn’t fly.  Perhaps more importantly, there’s just not much humor in it.

Yes, Step Brothers would have made for a hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch, perhaps even one of the long-running show’s best. But it’s just not enough humor to stretch into a feature film.

Step Brothers is rated R for “crude and sexual content, and pervasive language.”  The above mentioned nudity—and a few more very crude gags—are more than enough for this film to warrant the R rating.  It’s too bad, because this film would probably be most successful with the 13-17 age group.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Step Brothers.