Step Brothers (film)

''Step Brothers'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Adam McKay, produced by Jimmy Miller and Judd Apatow, and written by Will Ferrell and McKay from a story by Ferrell, McKay, and John C. Reilly. It follows Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly), two grown men who are forced to live together as stepbrothers after their single parents, with whom they still live, marry each other. Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Adam Scott, and Kathryn Hahn also star.

The film was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on July 25, 2008, two years after '' Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby''. Both films feature the same main actors, as well as the same producing and writing team. It grossed $128.1 million and received mixed reviews.

Plot

39-year-old Brennan Huff and 40-year old Dale Doback are immature adults still living with their respective parents. Brennan lives with his divorced mother, Nancy, while Dale lives with his widowed father, Robert. Robert and Nancy meet, fall in love, and marry, forcing Brennan and Dale to live together as stepbrothers. Brennan and Dale initially despise each other, and after Brennan defies Dale's orders not to touch his drum set, a brawl erupts between them. They are grounded with no television for a week and are ordered to find jobs within a month or be evicted.

When Brennan's arrogant classist younger brother Derek, a successful helicopter leasing agent, visits with his family, he openly ridicules Dale and Brennan, and Dale punches him in the face. Brennan is awed that Dale stood up to Derek, while Derek's discontented wife Alice finds Dale's courage arousing and begins a sexual affair with him, which Derek is completely unaware of. Brennan and Dale bond over their shared tastes and interests, particularly music. Brennan had given up singing after Derek and his friends jeered his performance in a school musical, which is what also sparked their sibling rivalry. Robert, meanwhile, schedules several job interviews for Brennan and Dale but they perform poorly at them. Robert and Nancy reveal that they plan to sell the house with Derek's help, retire, and travel the world on Robert's sailboat. They also sign Brennan and Dale up for therapy and open limited bank accounts for them until they find work. Brennan falls in love at first sight with his therapist, Denise, but it is unrequited and she maintains her professional distance.

At Derek's birthday party, Dale and Brennan present a pitch video for their entertainment company, "Prestige Worldwide", that includes a music video, "Boats 'N Hoes", which they filmed on Robert's boat without his permission. The presentation backfires when the video shows the boat crashing, shattering Robert and Nancy's sailing dreams and straining their marriage. On Christmas, Robert and Nancy announce they are divorcing, upsetting Brennan and Dale, who blame each other. Brennan and Dale go their separate ways, live independently, and gradually become functioning adults.

Brennan gets a job at Derek's helicopter leasing firm and insists on overseeing a prestigious sales event, the Catalina Wine Mixer. He hires the catering company that employs Dale, whom he reconciles with, and invites Robert and Nancy to attend. The party goes well until the lead singer of the hired Billy Joel cover band loses his temper with a heckler and is hustled away. Derek blames Brennan for the fiasco and fires him. Robert encourages Brennan and Dale to be their eccentric child-at-heart selves again and perform to save the party. The pair take the stage and Brennan sings " Por Ti Volaré" while Dale accompanies him on drums. Brennan's moving performance causes Robert and Nancy to rekindle their romance, Brennan and Derek to finally make amends, and for Denise to become infatuated with Brennan. Dale, meanwhile, ends his affair with Alice, much to her dismay.

Six months later, Robert and Nancy have remarried and moved back to their old house, while Brennan and Dale have turned "Prestige Worldwide" into a successful entertainment company that owns several karaoke bars and restaurants. As a Christmas gift for Brennan and Dale, Robert has turned his boat into a tree house stocked with props.

In a mid-credit scene, Dale and Brennan get their revenge on the schoolyard bullies who previously beat them up.

Cast

* Will Ferrell as Brennan Huff
** Bryce Hurless as young Brennan Huff
* John C. Reilly as Dale Doback
* Mary Steenburgen as Nancy Huff
* Richard Jenkins as Dr. Robert Doback
* Adam Scott as Derek Huff
** Dmitri Schuyler-Linch as young Derek Huff
* Kathryn Hahn as Alice Huff
* Andrea Savage as Denise
* Lurie Poston as Tommy Huff
* Elizabeth Yozamp as Tiffany Huff
* Logan Manus as Chris Gardocki
* Travis T. Flory as Redheaded Kid
* Shira Piven as Nurse
* Seth Morris as Doctor
* Wayne Federman as Blind Man
* Maria Quiban as TV Anchor
* Danielle Schneider as Receptionist
* Gillian Vigman as Pam Gringe
* Brian Huskey as Interviewer
* Seth Rogen as a Sporting Goods Manager
* Chris Henchy as First Homebuyer
* Mary Catherine Hamelin as First Homebuyer
* Ian Roberts as Male Therapist
* Phil LaMarr as Second Homebuyer
* Erica Vittina Phillips as Second Homebuyer
* Rob Riggle as Randy
* Ken Jeong as Employment Agent
* Horatio Sanz as Lead Singer
* Jake Szymanski as Caterer
* Matt Walsh as Drunk Corporate Guy
* Brent White as Therapy Patient

Release

Theatrical

''Step Brothers'' was released in the United States on July 25, 2008.

Home media

The film was released for home video on December 2, 2008 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in a single-disc rated edition, a single-disc unrated edition and a 2-disc unrated edition. The film generated sales of an estimated 3.87 million units in DVD and Blu-ray, totaling $63.7 million. For the home video release, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Adam McKay recorded a commentary track mostly in song, accompanied by Jon Brion; the track covers "the movie-making process ndtheir characters' offscreen lives" in remarks that range "from the inspired to the irritatingly prolonged, but when Ferrell and Reilly really get into a good groove, they're actually funnier than the main feature". ''Step Brothers'' was released on 4K Blu-Ray on October 2, 2018.

Reception

Box office

''Step Brothers'' opened in 3,094 theaters and grossed $30.9 million. It went on to gross $100,468,793 domestically and $27,638,849 internationally for a total of $128,107,642.

Critical reception

''Step Brothers'' received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Step Brothers'' indulges in a cheerfully relentless immaturity that will quickly turn off viewers unamused by Ferrell and Reilly -- and delight those who find their antics hilarious." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars and stated, "When did comedies get so mean? ''Step Brothers'' has a premise that might have produced a good time at the movies, but when I left, I felt a little unclean".

Ty Burr in the ''Boston Globe'' wrote, "'Step Brothers' is crudely funny, which means that sometimes it's crudely hilarious and more often it's just crude." ''Variety'' critic John Anderson wrote, "the film is funny at times but lapses into the reflexive vulgarity that seems to be the default mechanism of the Apatow machinery."

In the British Film Institute's 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' polls of the greatest movies ever made, '' The Snowtown Murders'' and ''Macbeth'' director Justin Kurzel named ''Step Brothers'' one of his 10 favorite films.

Cultural and political reception

In the movie, Dale and Brennan make a video to pitch both Robert and Derek about investing in Prestige Worldwide, with a music video for a song titled "Boats 'N' Hoes". Since the release of the film, "Boats 'N' Hoes" has contributed to the success of the movie with over a million hits on YouTube and merchandise that references the song.

A political action committee (PAC) known as the "Boats 'N' Hoes PAC" was registered by Shaun Nowacki with the Texas Ethics Commission in 2014. Nowacki's firm was hired by multiple Republicans in Texas including 48th Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick (who was running for Lieutenant Governor), and Donna Campbell (who was campaigning for State Senator). The purpose of the PAC was never shared and was criticized by Lisa Paul, who served as the Texas Democratic Party Deputy Communications Director. Paul said, "Texas Republicans say they want to reach out to women, to be more inclusive, but actions like this reinforce a pattern of disrespect... Their contempt towards women is simply unforgivable."

The Catalina Wine Mixer event depicted in the film was not a real event that existed before or during the creation of the film. The event has since been created and hosted on Catalina Island on Descanso Beach.

Future

Cancelled rap album

McKay announced on Twitter in 2011 that production of a ''Step Brothers'' rap album featuring Ferrell and Reilly had begun, but later said that the rap album fell apart and will not be released.

Possible sequel

Over the years, Ferrell and Reilly have talked about a sequel. Reilly had the idea. In 2008, McKay was interviewed about a possible sequel, and said: He added that Ferrell and Reilly's characters would be mature and have jobs. "One of them's married and has a kid. They're still kind of goofballs but they've taken three or four steps. Then we have an idea for something happens that knocks him back to square one, and one of the brothers, John C. Reilly sort of instigates it, like 'we can't take this anymore.' And things go really bad, their lives kind of fall apart. They have to pull it back together is sort of the basic structure." McKay has also said that ideas that were not used in the first film may be used in the sequel.

McKay spoke to ''Empire'' in February 2014 and appeared to rule out a sequel to ''Anchorman 2'' or ''Step Brothers'' saying, "No, that's the last sequel we're gonna do. There's nothing more fun to me than new characters and a new world. And now we're releasing this alt version, we're totally satisfied. No ''Anchorman 3''."

In a 2014 interview with Collider, McKay indicated the door was still open for a ''Step Brothers'' sequel at some point, while making clear it wasn't a short-term development priority, stating:

In February 2017, Ferrell said in an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' that there are currently no plans for a sequel to ''Step Brothers''.

In November 2020, Reilly said in an interview on '' Conan'' of a sequel:

References

External links

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Scoring Session Photo Gallery
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Step Brothers (Film)
2008 comedy films
2008 films
2000s American films
2000s buddy comedy films
2000s English-language films
American buddy comedy films
Apatow Productions films
Columbia Pictures films
English-language comedy films
Films about brothers
Films about dysfunctional families
Films about remarriage
Films directed by Adam McKay
Films produced by Judd Apatow
Films scored by Jon Brion
Films set in Sacramento, California
Films with screenplays by Adam McKay
Films with screenplays by Will Ferrell
Gary Sanchez Productions films
Relativity Media films
2000s Christmas comedy films
English-language Christmas comedy films
English-language buddy comedy films