Step Brothers

Will Ferrell has been in a downward spiral for some time now. The last truly funny movie he made was 2004's Anchorman, and, let's all be honest here, it's a funny film that is also highly overrated. His recent output, such as Talladega Nights and Semi-Pro, has been crap, pure and simple. His schtick is getting old and it's high time he make use of his obvious comedic talent and get attached to something incredibly funny. He needed something that reached his high water mark of Old School; something that reminded people of his raucous days on SNL.

Sadly, Step Brothers ain't it.

Ferrell teams up with John C. Reilly in a film about two 40-year old slackers, Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly), still living at home with their respective parents, played by Mary Steenburgen (Ted Danson's vaginal half) and Richard Jenkins (the dead father from Six Feet Under). When they decide to get married, after a blink-and-you-miss-it courtship, Brennan and Dale are forced to move into the same room together and alter their couch potato lifestyles. After a series of unending battles cement their intense hatred for one another, Brennan and Dale begin to realize that they actually have a lot more in common than they think and, ultimately, become best friends. As bad as they were apart, together they wreak enough havoc that they are forced by their parents to give up their loser lifestyles and move ahead into the real world.

That's a pretty good premise to work with; and with such an impressive creative team behind it I'm surprised it didn't work that well. Ferrell and Reilly co-wrote the script with director Adam McKay, the same guy responsible for Anchorman. The ubiquitious, and currently-white hot, Judd Apatow even stepped in to produce. This should have been a no-brainer for pure comedic gold. So, what went wrong?

The biggest problem here is that the film feels forced. Typically, Apatow comedies are made with a skeltal script and much of the dialgue is improvised on camera. This was also the case with McKay's Anchorman. Ferrell is not a great improv comic, Reilly even less so. Will Ferrell is often a funny guy, but I don't think his off-the-cuff humor is as funny as other well-versed improv comics like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill or even someone like Robert Downey Jr. His lines don't feel natural. I know the point of improv is to work within the moment and say what feels right, but Ferrell's lines come across as stilted half-cooked thoughts. Reilly fares even worse. I've never seen him as much of a comedic actor. His dramatic roles, in films such as Boogie Nights and Hard Eight, are far more appealing vehicles for him than comedy. Hell, his last comedic role, as a Johnny Cash-esque rocker in Walk Hard, bombed at the box office and received tepid reviews. Maybe if he had been given better written lines his character would have been funnier, but the limited range he displays in improvisational comedy doesn't do him any justice.

Sometimes, many times, a good comedy is made great by it's supporting players. Too bad none of them showed up here. The best cameo was easily Seth Rogen as a sports store manager looking to hire the two brothers, but the role was too small to have much of an impact on the film. Notably missing is Apatow regular Jonah Hill, whose angry humor would have been a perfect fit for the film. Adam Scott, as Brennan's younger, successful brother, Derek, is a wasted role. Sure, it's funny that he's an asshole, but the role should have been cast with someone that could really play it up more. Scott just doesn't display the comedic chops required to really terrorize Brennan and Dale, and I think his asshole-like nature could have been pushed further. Even the few funny lines he has aren't really that memorable. I'd say the funniest person that shows up more than once is Derek wife, Alice. Her interactions with Dale are uncomfortably funny. Most everyone else is criminally flat. Even Steenburgen seems out of place swearing like a sailor here. I like profanity as much as anyone else, maybe even moreso, but swearing doesn't make something funny. Some of the best comedies I've ever seen don't even use curse words. It's as though they used profanity as a substitute for real creative writing.

There's not really much more I can, or care to, say about this movie. Was it a mildy amusing way to kill 90 minutes? Sure, but it also wasn't worth the $10 I paid for the ticket. There was potential here to make a seriously funny comedy. Two slackers with single parents forced to live together and play nice? This would have been a great vehicle for David Spade and Chris Farley in the 90's, but it just doesn't work with Ferrell and Reilly. The script is vastly underwritten; the "plot" segues in such a jilted manner it was more laughable than the film itself. Most of you may have seen this by now, but for those who haven't should wait for the DVD. Spend your money on Pineapple Express, which I will be doing tonight. Unlike Will Ferrell I know I can safely spend $10 on a Seth Rogen film and laugh my balls off.