Step Brothers was more like a collection of funny sketches than an actual movie, but the upside is that it’s really well suited to the internet.  In this scene, Will Ferrell argues with his mom Mary Steenburgen about chicken nuggets and then he shouts and acts like a little baby, and then he says “f-ck!” and by all rights it shouldn’t be funny, and yet it is.  Damn you, Ferrell.  Can’t you see I’m trying to look unique and intellectual?

[via Empire]

Watch the trailer here, I don’t really do summary.

Okay, first things first: this movie is really funny.  No matter how stale you think Will Ferrell’s act is, or how tired you are of the man-child comedy genre, you will laugh hard and often through at least the first forty minutes. They don’t always have the material, but Ferrell and John C. Reilly are two of the best comedic actors working, and the two of them together are more than the sum of their parts.  Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins, who play Ferrell and Reilly’s parents, have turned in plenty of fine acting performances and they do okay here, but the drop in comedic tension whenever Ferrell and Reilly aren’t onscreen is palpable.  They just blow everyone else off the screen, like your mother at a truck stop.

And yes, the jokes are juvenile.  John C. Reilly farts in a job interview.  Will Ferrell rubs what appears to be his actual, hairy nutsack on Reilly’s drum set.  But these guys are good at juvenile, and the way they do it, there’s a certain magic to it.  And I’m not apologizing because if I ever stop laughing at a really well-timed fart joke, just put me in the ground because I’m already dead.

The main issue I question in Step Brothers is: is a traditional movie really the right format for this kind of comedy?  Director Adam McKay, who wrote the script with Ferrell and Reilly, excels at capturing chunks of hilarity that can be anywhere from one to ten minutes long.  We’re willing to accept any kind of strung together plot, unbelievable characters, and a completely inconsistent level of realism for about 40 minutes, but at some point, and no one’s figured a way around it, there has to be a third act, and that kind of requires a story.  God, I hate playing the dad.

Even the stupidest comedies – Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Wedding Crashers – have enough of a story and real, well, consistent enough characters to push us through that inevitable lull that happens when we realize that no matter how much fun we’re having, somehow the movie has to go beyond the premise.  McKay, Ferrell, and Reilly’s approach is so divorced from plot and story (it’s more a series of vignettes) that the last fifth or so of the movie is just… excess.  At some point you just can’t help thinking, “So are these guys just gonna keep dicking around or what?”

They make a half-hearted attempt at wrapping up the story and it’s not a total failure – it’s kind of cute.  But to produce an unqualified success, these guys need to A. Sit down and actually write something with a compelling enough through line that it works as a 90-minute plus movie, or B. Challenge the traditional movie length and/or structure enough to make it work for them.  That said, I’d probably be willing to watch another valiant-but-failed attempt if it makes me laugh this much.

Grade: B

After the jump, I’ve got Sexman’s latest review of Step Brothers.  Sexman is definitely bringing the heat on this one.  He says of Step Brothers (which he awards five stars):

It’s fast, it’s dirty, and that’s how I like it.

Tsk tsk, Sexman.  Do they not have "your mom" jokes in Canada?  Seriously, man, you’re lobbing up softballs here.  Anyway, after that he goes off on a tangent (you’ll be able to tell when because right before he says "I’m going to go off on a tangent here,") about how much he hates No Country for Old Men, and how Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem should’ve won a Best Picture Oscar.  I don’t agree with the kid, but I like that he’s not afraid of controversy. Sexman is pretty punk rock when you think about it.

Oh, and he has a t-shirt now:

A FilmDrunk reader writes of the picture, "found this little gem on the internet. consider posting it next time you talk about batman making fuckton of money."  A gem indeed.  The cartoonist truly is a modern day Thomas Nast – the bag with the dollar sign to indicate money?  Brilliant! 

There isn’t a metaphor out there that can fully convey how badly The Dark Knight is destroying the box office right now.  The total is up to $312.4 million dollars domestically, meaning it reached the $300 million dollar barrier in 10 days, the fastest ever.  The previous fastest being Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which reached it in 16 days.

Studio now believes that "Dark Knight" has a shot at making north of $500 million domestically, becoming only the second film to do so after "Titanic," which grossed $600.8 million in North America. The next two top-grossing pics after "Titanic" are the original "Star Wars," which ultimately grossed $461 million domestically — including re-releases — and "Shrek 2," which made $436 million domestically.

I think I speak for everyone here when I say, "Holy balls."  Meanwhile this weekend, Step Brothers pulled in a respectable $30 million for the number two spot, and X-Files 2 was a big disappointment at $10.2 million, putting it at number four behind Mamma Mia.  Sources say X-Files was shooting for high teens to low 20s in its first weekend, but since it only cost $29 million to make, it will probably turn a decent profit eventually.  In other news, I bought this sportcoat off a wino for two dollars.  *pops collar, does a twirl*  I think it fits great.

[via Variety & DHD] 

The guy calling himself Poster Boy NYC is at it again (you may recall his work on Hancock), this time adding 100% more John C. Reilly to the Step Brothers poster.  But don’t worry, he didn’t just throw Will Ferrell’s face away, he used it to turn The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor into The Dummy: Tomb of the Wagon Pimp.  It’s funny because the sounds and words are almost the same, but they’re kind of different! 

What kind of loser has so much time on his hands that he can just go around makng juvenile alterations to movie art?  …What?  Why is everybody looking at me like that?  Whatever, I like my Step Brothers poster better.

[Thanks to Robo for the tip]