How 'Step Brothers' became the ultimate statement in idiot comedy

Will Ferrell (left) and John C. Reilly race toward stupidity in 2008’s “Step Brothers.” (Sony Pictures/MovieStillsDB.com)

Ultimate Movie Year finds the best films from weekends past to build an all-star lineup of cinema.

“Step Brothers”
Released July 25, 2008
Directed by Adam McKay
Where to Watch

The Pick

History suggests this weekend is a good place for beloved comedies, so my head is leaning here. Plus, the back half of the year tends to go heavy on dramas, so this might be our last chance to celebrate the genre before entering the dog days of August. Thus far, we’ve managed to recognize several decade-defining comedies, and when it comes to the 00s, there is a specific type of comedy that came to the forefront.

The Reason

There is an element of immaturity when it comes to comedy, and the opening decade of this century embraced it for all of its worth.

The trend began with 2003’s “Old School,” the Todd Philips comedy starring Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and the scene-stealing Will Ferrell, then a regular on television’s “Saturday Night Live.” The plot involved three adult men reneging on their usual responsibilities (including family and career) to form a college fraternity. A year later, Ferrell starred in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” directed by his frequent SNL collaborator Adam McKay. The comedy hit featured Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy reacting ridiculously, impossibly, and hideously to the looming star power of Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). While Ferrell and McKay entertained with their over-the-top immaturity, “Anchorman” producer Judd Apatow began directing his own comedies about men suffering from arrested development, but with more realism. Immaturity, silly or human, ruled comedy.

As Ferrell and McKay ramped up the chaos and buffoonery, it would be natural to wonder how these idiot man-children characters could possibly be successful at anything given their inability to function in adult society. What “Step Brothers” presupposes is, “Maybe they can’t?”

McKay’s 2008 hit comedy is, to borrow The Ringer term, the apex mountain of his collaborations with Ferrell because it is the apparent conclusion to their brand of comedy that was highlighted by big comedic performances that celebrated stupidity and immaturity with gusto. But you also have to consider the era in which these movies were produced. Ferrell was a brilliant and versatile comedy actor who spent seven years at SNL. He became a breakout star of the show once he began portraying George W. Bush during the 2000 election season and subsequent presidency. Ferrell’s Bush impression was one of unearned confidence mixed with uninformed stupidity who rose to the highest level possible and helped define the persona of the real president for many people. In many ways, that ability to say the dumbest thing possible at any moment with the bravado of a jet fighter pilot would be the common element to Ferrell’s most iconic characters, including Ron Burgundy and Ricky Bobby. The joke for audiences is that these immature and unintelligent men should never be allowed to leave the house, much less rise to the positions of power they hold. By the time “Step Brothers” rolls around, Ferrell and McKay literally keep these men in the house, because these are adults who appear to have paused their emotional development around the age of 12.

The movie was inspired by an idea McKay had about seeing grown men in bunk beds. When he pulled in Ferrell and co-star John C. Reilly, the three developed the script that worked in every bonkers idea they could include. The free-flow of ideas didn’t stop there, as McKay estimates about 30 percent of the finished movie was improvised on set.

“I love watching these guys together,” McKay told CinemaBlend about Ferrell and Reilly. “Yeah, they’re a comedy team. I like the idea of these guys chain-smoking and drinking and doing like 8 films together and ending up in Vegas. That’s the career arc I want for them.”

In “Step Brothers,” Ferrell plays Brennan and Reilly is Dale, two unemployed men living with their single parents who spend their days eating unhealthy food, playing video games, and performing kung fu in the garage. Their respective parents Nancy (Mary Steenburgen) and Robert (Richard Jenkins), meet at a convention and hit it off immediately, quickly leading to a wedding and situation where Brennan and Dale must share living space with each other. This being a comedy, it goes even worse than you would expect. The new stepbrothers become aggressively territorial over their parents, their space, their belongings, and their status as the “man” of the house.

When you think Brennan and Dale are aberrations in the world of the movie, Brennan’s real brother Derek (Adam Scott) introduced in the film just as he leads his family to an a cappella rendition of “Sweet Child of Mine.” Derek is also developmentally stunted in this movie, but his brand of endless adolescence is utterly toxic. Robert immediately takes to Derek because, unlike the other two boys, Derek is a successful helicopter-leasing agent, and it furthers Robert’s impatience with the situation. Robert is dreaming of the day when he can take Nancy sailing around the globe during retirement, but when Brennan and Dale crash the boat, Robert’s reaction leads to the marriage ending. This summary comprises the bulk of the plot, but our attention remains, as the players work valiantly to exceed each other with moronic behavior.

“Adam McKay’s ‘Step Brothers’ is mighter than the sum of its laughs,” wrote David Edelstein in his review for Vulture. “In it, a lot of gifted, un-self-censoring men and women have been given license to say and do anything, take after take, scene after scene, with nothing too crude or nonsensical to be deemed out of bounds. What emerges is gorgeously controlled pandemonium.” 

“Step Brothers” wasn’t the biggest hit of the McKay/Ferrell collaboration (although it’s not that far off in box office grosses), it does feel like it’s the climax of that decade in film comedy because it takes the central idea aligning all of them to its furthest conclusion. McKay and Ferrell would work together on 2010’s “The Other Guys,” which finds its humor more in character and situations than deliberate immaturity. “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the 2013 sequel that doesn’t have near the cultural penetration the original did. There would be other comedies from associated creators. Whether the stars visibly aged too much, streaming changed the way we discovered and watched film comedies or they just weren’t as good, it has all felt like diminishing returns after “Step Brothers.”

But thankfully, we still have this one film of peak immaturity, idiot man-children grappling with emotions we overcame when we hit puberty, acting out their absurdities for our maximum, gut-busting entertainment. “Step Brothers” is a beautiful moment in comedy when everything comes together to its natural conclusion, like an angelic voice singing “Por Ti Volaré” at the fucking Catalina Wine Mixer. For a moment, everything feels right.

Or at least better than working as the lead singer of a strictly 80s Billy Joel cover band.

The Weekend

While summer technically continues until September, the movie summer begins to run its last lap. All of the heavy hitters have already been released last weekend, but several would-be dark horse cinematic contenders could help bring a strong close to the Ultimate Movie Summer.

The last weekend of July is a historically significant release marker for film comedy, so it feels right to choose this genre in this spot. In particular, the former stars of SNL are well represented here, with “National Lampoon’s Animal House” in 1978, “Caddyshack” in 1980, “National Lampoon’s Vacation” in 1983, and “National Lampoon’s European Vacation” in 1985. Also, human cartoon Jim Carrey continued his breakout year with “The Mask” in 1994, cult comedy (featuring many players who would go on to play pivotal roles in the films referenced above) “Wet Hot American Summer” in 2001, and “The Simpsons Movie” in 2007 is also in play. None of the directors of these films made any of the other Ultimate Movie Year roster, you can choose any of these comedies without messing with the lineup. Since “Ghostbusters” is like the apex of the original SNL roster's film careers, highlighting that as the 80s comedy while saving “Step Brothers” as representative of the 2000s decade feels like the best move. While the latter comedies are also enjoyable, they don’t have near the influence or relevancy as “Animal House,” “Caddyshack,” or “Step Brothers.”

Other notable films include the Disney adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” from 1951, Gary Cooper standing as the last respectable lawman in the 1952 western “High Noon,” Marlon Brando’s iconic performance in 1954’s “On the Waterfront,” Prince’s amazing musical “Purple Rain” from 1984, the Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin buddy comedy “Midnight Run” in 1988, Paul Greengrass’s brilliant sequel “The Bourne Supremacy” from 2004, and Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” in 2013. All kinds of different genres here could have been a contender, but alas, this is a week that just screams for a full-blown comedy. 

A few more films released in this spot were eliminated by the “one film per director or franchise” house rule. I tend to think that people underrate Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” premiering in 1998, and it’s one of at least a half-dozen of his films that could have easily made this list, but that call ultimately went to “Jaws.” There are also two superhero movies that, in my view, are at least reliable watches if not good, and that would be 2013’s “The Wolverine” and 2018’s “Teen Titans Go to the Movies,” but neither of them would be anybody’s favorite, so they get cut. I think “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” from 2019 is one of Quentin Tarantino’s best films, but I already placed “Pulp Fiction” in the lineup for October. Finally, 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” is a terrific action film worthy of your attention, but I can’t use it because …

Next Week: “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” 

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