Rama’s SCREEN

I really thought I would laugh out loud watching this movie but the only thing that went through my mind when I watched this was, “WTF!” Will Ferrell’s new collaboration with John C. Reilly and Adam McKay will let you down. I don’t mind R-rated comedy, in fact some of the raunchiest comedy movies out there are… the funniest S**t to hit the theaters these days but this won’t stand a chance against any of them. STEP BROTHERS has some funny moments but too few when compared to the many dull and confusing scenes it has. Most of the jokes depend too much on the how many F words you can pack within one short sentence.

Ferrell plays Brennan Huff, a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen). Reilly plays Dale Doback, a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his father, Robert (Richard Jenkins). When Robert and Nancy marry and move in together, Brennan and Dale are forced to live with each other as step brothers. As their narcissism and downright aggressive laziness threaten to tear the family apart, these two middle-aged, immature, overgrown boys will orchestrate an insane, elaborate plan to bring their parents back together. To pull it off, they must form an unlikely bond that maybe, just maybe, will finally get them out of the house.

The concept is funny, don’t get me wrong. I think the story has potential but the delivery or the execution is messy.
I know, it’s supposed to be this way, right? A movie about two childish adults, you can’t expect something amazing but still,.. you can at least still expect a good movie experience.
The physical slapstick  is more painful than it is hilarious. You’d have to smoke something to get the characters to crack you up.
The sex jokes are somewhat funny but it gets overdone after a while. You get to a certain point where you’d wish you had some sort of universal remote control to change the channel.

Acting-wise, I think Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are still talented actors, gifted comedians who can withstand and endure any pain to get even the smallest hint of chuckle. I think the story could’ve been tweaked and made better.
Some of the stuff they come up with are more inside jokes that the audience don’t get. Literally there’ll be a long series of scenes where you’d keep watching but none of what you see would amuse you or make you smile, You’d be staring and gazing off.

And what about the moments go from one to another and you have no clue what happens in between. How on earth can someone who’s childish all of sudden becomes a responsible adult just by wiping hsi butt with a rug?! The transition is crap.

Whether it’s rated R adult humor like this one or PG-13 adult humor like Zohan, the key is the comedy, it’s simple, …. if it ain’t funny, then it pobably won’t be worth your time and money. The key is to come up not only with good concept, but also good story and good on-the-target humor that comes frequently,… not just spoiling scenes that are part of the trailer already, so when you see the full version, you won’t laugh anymore.
I’m just disappointed, I expected more of these guys.

* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film