STEP BROTHERS
CAROLINE: The new comedy “Step Brothers” starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly is half funny, half stupid. And by that I mean a quarter funny and three-quarters stupid.
RYAN: I was totally dreading this movie even though I love Judd Apatow, who produced it. I just feel like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are two of the ugliest men in Hollywood and I didn’t want to go look at them on the big screen for 90 minutes. I found the trailer stupid and unfunny, but I was pleasantly surprised by the first few minutes of the movie. I think I even turned to you and said, “OMG this might be brilliant.”
CAROLINE: I, on the other hand, was very psyched for this movie, even though I’m over Will Ferrell to some degree. Overall, I think it had some very funny moments but it also had a lot of gross-out humor and fart jokes that were unnecessary.
RYAN: I also think it’s annoying to just take these two unattractive guys and get them to turn their brand of comedy into “We’re 40-year-old stupid characters who still live at home” and think it’s automatically going to be funny. “Hi, we haven’t grown up and we’re just gonna act like boys.” It’s well written and funny in parts, but I’m a little insulted by the premise.
CAROLINE: I know what you mean, but I still dug the premise. Will Ferrell is clearly at the point in his career where he can pitch anything and it will get made. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I think parts of this movie worked, and the whole audience was laughing out loud. Other times, I found myself not laughing at all while other people in the audience were cracking up, and then sometimes none of us were laughing and the jokes fell completely flat.
RYAN: There were moments that made me laugh, especially the scenes with the woman who plays Will Ferrell’s sister-in-law, Kathryn Hahn. She was in “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days” as one of Kate Hudson’s friends, and I’ve always loved her.
CAROLINE: She’s got a bit of a butterface.
RYAN: I know; but this was a great role for her. She steals all of her scenes.
CAROLINE: I didn’t mind her per se, but some of her lines were so disgusting. And she peed in a urinal like a dude. That was just gross and gratuitous.
RYAN: True, but it was something we haven’t seen before.
CAROLINE: The thing I loved most was the casting of the parents. Richard Jenkins plays John C. Reilly’s father and Mary Steenburgen, who looks fabulous, plays Will Ferrell’s mom.
RYAN: I think Mary S. has had an eyelift or a face-lift; but aside from that, she’s in impeccable shape.
CAROLINE: She doesn’t seem to have a trace of Botox either. She must be a little nipped and tucked but it’s totally working for her. Nicole Kidman should talk to Mary’s plastic surgeon a.s.a.p.
RYAN: I loved the costumes in this movie. Both guys wear funny and cheesy old vacation t-shirts from the ‘80s. And I loved the way their house was set up. The set design is great. Bottom line?
CAROLINE: This movie started off very promising but I thought it was going to deliver more than it did. Fans of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly will like it, especially dudes in the 20s-40s range. It kind of shows what would happen if you just totally didn’t deal with getting a job and bailed on being an adult, and there’s some humor in that.
RYAN: I liked it a lot more than I thought I would since I had such low expectations. I enjoyed at least a quarter of it; maybe even half.
CAROLINE: Such glowing praise.
RYAN: Yeah, what can I say? It’s not a great movie, but it has its moments.