Entry#137: Step Brothers

Trailer

Let me be frank for a moment: Will Ferrell is a very polarizing comedian for me. He can be funny sometimes, but he can also be downright annoying and completely devoid of humor at other times. Step Brothers would definitely fall under the latter category as the humor's juvenile, the script's atrociously self-aware, and the film goes out of its way for mind-numbing shock humor.

In the film, we follow two grown men - Brennan and Dale - who still live with their divorced parents. Brennan, who lives with his divorced mother, and Dale, who lives with his widowed father, have no intentions of finding jobs, moving out, or starting any sort of romantic relationship. The two childish adults simply play video games, listen to music, and whine just as children do. The two single parents eventually meet in a business meeting and, before long, get married and move in together. The rest of the film follows the new stepbrothers as they try to get along in their shared household.

The concept's slightly interesting, I'll admit that, but the execution completely fails in Step Brothers. The film's not funny whatsoever, as all of the jokes and the gags are either meant for shock value or are completely and totally random. There's no sense of any plan, direction, or anything of that sort. It's completely random, and the film thinks that random spouts of yelling is funny when m, in actuality, it isn't. Not only that, but the film's dirty for the sake of being dirty. There's no purpose to the vulgarity or language, and watching this film is like listening to an elementary student who's just discovered a plethora of certain four-letter words. The film's humor isn't funny but tasteless. Do these people have any respect for themselves? If so, it's certainly difficult to tell.

Not only is the movie unfunny and repulsive, but it's self-aware as well. Self-awareness is possibly the worst thing you can do in a comedic act/film, as it portrays the comedian as being superior to his/her audience. If you've ever met an irritating frat boy who thinks he's the funniest thing on the planet, then you'll understand why it's easy to dislike Step Brothers. The whole thing's just stupid and nonsensical.

I'll admit that Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are good performers, and the actors do give the film their best shot, but the awful script and unfunny style pretty much kill any chances of entertainment.

Juvenile, idiotic, and completely unfunny, Step Brothers is, as I said before, akin to a snarky and unfunny frat boy. You may enjoy the sheer idiocy at first, but it gets tiring very quickly.