|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

20
American Carol, An
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
41
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
45
Blindness
58
Body of Lies
63
Burn After Reading
58
City of Ember
15
College
82
Dark Knight, The
43
Death Race
15
Disaster Movie
43
Eagle Eye
58
Express, The
49
Family That Preys, The
57
Flash of Genius
36
Fly Me to the Moon
54
Get Smart
72
Ghost Town
55
House Bunny, The
35
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73
Kung Fu Panda
46
Lakeview Terrace
52
Longshots, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
51
Mamma Mia!
xx
Max Payne
43
Meet Dave
37
Miracle at St. Anna
35
Mirrors
34
My Best Friend's Girl
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
39
Nights in Rodanthe
54
Quarantine
36
Righteous Kill
53
Rocker, The
50
Secret Life of Bees, The
53
Sex Drive
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36
Space Chimps
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
47
Swing Vote
60
Traitor
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93
WALL-E
27
Women, The
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
73
Kung Fu Panda
72
Ghost Town
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
63
Burn After Reading
60
Traitor
58
Express, The
58
City of Ember
58
Body of Lies
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
57
Flash of Genius
55
House Bunny, The
54
Quarantine
54
Get Smart
53
Rocker, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
53
Sex Drive
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
50
Secret Life of Bees, The
49
Family That Preys, The
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
46
Lakeview Terrace
45
Blindness
43
Eagle Eye
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
41
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
39
Nights in Rodanthe
37
Miracle at St. Anna
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
My Best Friend's Girl
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
20
American Carol, An
15
Disaster Movie
15
College
xx
Max Payne
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

xx
All of Us
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
63
Appaloosa
68
Ashes of Time Redux
68
August Evening
62
Baghead
81
Ballast
55
Battle in Seattle
xx
Beer for My Horses
xx
Billy: The Early Years
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
56
Bottle Shock
50
Breakfast with Scot
61
Brick Lane
43
Call and Response
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Choke
43
Choose Connor
41
Cthulhu
62
Duchess, The
85
Edge of Heaven, The
66
Elegy
xx
Elephant King, The
80
Encounters at the End of the World
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
64
Fall, The
28
Filth and Wisdom
28
Fireproof
65
Flow: For Love of Water
37
Forever Strong
xx
Frontrunners
82
Frozen River
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
51
Good Dick
82
Happy-Go-Lucky
44
Henry Poole is Here
31
Hounddog
53
Humboldt County
72
I Served the King of England
68
I.O.U.S. A
40
Igor
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
xx
Just Buried
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
xx
Lower Learning
63
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
xx
Mary
62
Mister Foe
86
Momma's Man
xx
Morning Light
80
Moving Midway
53
Nights and Weekends
73
Obscene
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
55
Ping Pong Playa
76
Pool, The
82
Rachel Getting Married
56
Religulous
56
RocknRolla
55
Save Me
72
Secret, A
45
Shoot on Sight
57
Sixty Six
82
Tell No One
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
57
Towelhead
72
Transsiberian
83
Trouble the Water
xx
Tru Loved
83
U2 3D
84
Up the Yangtze
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
79
Visitor, The
46
W.
61
Wackness, The
52
What Just Happened?
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
89
Man on Wire
86
Momma's Man
85
Edge of Heaven, The
84
Up the Yangtze
83
U2 3D
83
Trouble the Water
82
Tell No One
82
Happy-Go-Lucky
82
Frozen River
82
Rachel Getting Married
81
Ballast
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Moving Midway
79
Visitor, The
78
Last Mistress, The
76
Pool, The
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
73
Obscene
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Secret, A
72
Transsiberian
72
I Served the King of England
68
I.O.U.S. A
68
August Evening
68
Ashes of Time Redux
66
Elegy
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
Flow: For Love of Water
64
Fall, The
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
63
Appaloosa
63
Man Named Pearl, A
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Duchess, The
62
Mister Foe
62
Baghead
61
Wackness, The
61
Brick Lane
57
Towelhead
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
57
Sixty Six
56
Religulous
56
Bottle Shock
56
RocknRolla
55
Save Me
55
Battle in Seattle
55
Ping Pong Playa
53
Humboldt County
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
53
Nights and Weekends
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
52
What Just Happened?
51
Good Dick
50
Breakfast with Scot
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Choke
46
W.
45
Shoot on Sight
44
Henry Poole is Here
43
Choose Connor
43
Call and Response
41
Cthulhu
40
Igor
37
Forever Strong
31
Hounddog
28
Filth and Wisdom
28
Fireproof
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
xx
Frontrunners
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
xx
All of Us
xx
Elephant King, The
xx
Billy: The Early Years
xx
Mary
xx
Morning Light
xx
Tru Loved
xx
Just Buried
xx
Beer for My Horses
xx
Lower Learning
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Step Brothers
Columbia Pictures (Sony)
 |
|
MPAA RATING: R for crude and sexual content, and pervasive language
Starring
Will Ferrell,
John C. Reilly,
Richard Jenkins,
Mary Steenburgen,
Adam Scott,
and
Katherine Hahn
Brennan Huff is a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy. Dale Doback is a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his father, Robert. 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. (Sony Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Will Ferrell
Adam McKay
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Adam McKay
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: July 25, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
88
New York Post
Kyle Smith
There is too much funny here for a movie (even though it continues into the closing credits). Step Brothers should be a TV show.

80
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
So childish it seems to arrive in diapers, and that's not bad; it's good.

80
Village Voice
Scott Foundas
Not to wax too serious here (since this is, after all, a movie in which two nearly middle-aged men beat each other over the heads with blunt instruments on their front lawn), but ticking away just beneath Step Brothers' freely associative surface is a fairly astute commentary on how we define such abstract concepts as "growing up" and "making something of yourself."

75
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Step Brothers is a Judd Apatow production and it's the closest that the Apatow factory has come to spitting out a dumb-and-dumber high-concept comedy.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
While Ferrell and Reilly are great together, hatching harebrained schemes that have no basis in reality, part of the unexpected treat of Step Brothers is watching Jenkins and Steenburgen sink to such blithely immature levels of rude and crude comedy.

75
Premiere
Jenni Miller
Step Brothers is a hard R, for good reason. While it's somewhat sweeter, if you will, than a typical Apatow flick, the ludicrous situations call for equally ludicrous behavior and statements.

70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Stupid, crude and hilarious, Step Brothers works by sneaking past our better judgment.

67
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Step Brothers at its best is a smarter "Dumb and Dumber."

63
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Take the kids at your peril. Mismarketing aside, Step Brothers is crudely funny, which means that sometimes it's crudely hilarious and more often it's just crude.

63
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
It's a testament to their performances -- and the spirit of this surprisingly raunchy, decidedly R-rated comedy -- that by the end credits, you've grown to like them a little bit. You just wouldn't want to live with them.

63
TV Guide
Staff (Not credited)
The inspired pairing of "Talledega's" Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, two actors smart enough to play dumb and make it work.

63
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
Stupid, predictable and fairly funny.

63
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Starting at infantile and regressing hysterically from there, Step Brothers flies on the comic chemistry of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.

60
Los Angeles Times
Sam Adams
Step Brothers is not a retread so much as a reduction, stripping away the magical pretext of "Elf" and the period trappings of "Anchorman" to get to the heart of the thriving man-boy genre.

60
Empire
Chris Hewitt
It's no Anchorman, but it's several steps in the right direction.

58
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
Reilly is a good foil for Ferrell, but too many of their scenes together have the effect of improv night at the comedy club.

50
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
Are Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay getting tired of their own shtick?

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Stephen Cole
A meagre, occasionally funny affair.

50
Film Threat
Mark Bell
Simply, the movie is a tale of extremes resulting in a tepid middleground.

50
USA Today
Claudia Puig
America loves dysfunctional families, but haven't we seen enough middle-aged losers who haven't grown up?

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Reyhan Harmanci
Essentially a throwaway film.

50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
The Will Ferrell comedy engine is running on empty in Step Brothers.

50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
This is a loud, ugly, foul comedy whose shortcomings extends far into the supporting cast.

50
Newsweek
David Ansen
I don't want to sound like a party pooper (or deny that there is something wickedly funny about seeing these middle-age adolescents beating the crap out of a playground full of little bullying kids) but there's something depressing about the never-ending celebration of eternal adolescence in recent American comedies.

50
Variety
John Anderson
The film is funny at times but lapses into the reflexive vulgarity that seems to be the default mechanism of the Apatow machinery.

40
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Step Brothers has comic fuel to burn, some of it unashamedly non sequitur and stupid-brilliant, but it still feels like a post-"Talladega" flameout.

40
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
The only thing that can explain middle-aged men acting like 6-year-olds is mental retardation, and there's nothing funny about that. The idea of middle-aged actors playing adolescents isn't much funnier. Put it this way: Such an idea does not make for an inexhaustible source of comedy.

40
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
They're losers that only a mother, an entertainment manager or a gang of self-satisfied comedy insiders could love.

38
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
In Step Brothers, the language is simply showing off by talking dirty. It serves no comic function, and just sort of sits there in the air, making me cringe.

38
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Humor is subjective, but this movie made me feel as if I had been subjected to something unpleasant.

30
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Ferrell and Reilly get more mileage out of juvenile pouting and bickering than any other performers I can imagine, but that's about as far as this goes.

20
New York Daily News
Joe Neumaier
So that's three snickers, not counting the Bush quote, 'cause including that one ain't fair, man.

0
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
There's a good subject for satire here, the extended adolescence of American kids. But satire presupposes maturity, or at least some perspective. The movie's calculation is that its subjects and audience share the same point of view. The results are truly ghastly.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 59 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Read more user comments...
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|