Review in a Hurry: Somewhere between unashamed vulgarity and juvenile sweetness lies this surprisingly touching tale about two man-children.
The Bigger Picture: Dale (John C. Reilly) and Brennan (Will Ferrell) are two grown men who still live with their single parents. When Mom and Dad (Mary Steenburgen and Six Feet Under's Richard Jenkins) meet, get married and combine broods, all hell breaks loose. Luckily, the bros soon find a common enemy in Brennan's smug, overachieving brother Derek (Adam Scott). Their attempts to discredit Derek lead to some pretty fantastic comedy, rife with childlike absurdity, karate-chopping male bonding and unashamed raunch.
If ever there were a modern-day Fred and Ginger for the man-boy set, it's these guys. Reilly's Dale is the Star Wars-geek yin to Ferrell's Kool-Aid-slurping yang, Brennan—the former watches television with a drool-y slack jaw, while the latter walks with an ungainly, toddler-like gait. They own their characters, and the one-liners roll off their tongues with gusto.
Along with those one-liners are some major F-bombs. Everyone except the sweetie-pie Steenburgen indulges in sailor-talk, belying an obvious eagerness to earn the R rating. But underneath the nastiness is an adorability that carries the movie.
This aw-shucks sensitivity guides the film through its satisfying third act, where the stepbros have to step up and carry the day like manly men, not Cops-watching couch potatoes. Smartly woven into all the funny is a strong plot about the complications of family. Step Brothers is a grown-up comedy with a kid's big heart.
The 180—a Second Opinion: The goofy jokes, non sequiturs and mindless silliness push too hard in some scenes. Even these fine actors can't make every stupid joke work.