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Not Funny, Man
Why is the new Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly comedy called Step Brothers? I've known that stepbrothers is a single unhyphenated word since I took part in sixth-grade spelling bees. Is your mother's mother your "grand mother" or "grandmother"? I hate how marketing guys always do it their own way, get it wrong, thumb their nose at civilization.
Step Brothers, in any event, is not funny. I sat there like an Easter Island statue. No chuckles; not even a smile. I need to say right now that anyone who goes this weekend and laughs uproariously is showing their colors. I'm not saying it'll mark you as a mongrel for finding it amusing but if you laugh heartily and repeatedly it will say something about your level of refinement and your vistas. The movie is a wallow -- a crew of actors sloshing around in a mocha-colored whipped-mud pit and going "who-hooaaa!...being covered in slop is friggin' hilarious, so the more the funnier....yahhhh!"
I'll admit that I found the premise -- a couple of 40 year-olds (Ferrell, Reilly) still living with their respective single parents and being forced to share a domain when their parents decide to get married -- amusing on the surface. But I realized early on that immaturity in and of itself isn't funny. It never is or has been. Think back -- when has a contemporary acting like an immature twit at any age ever been amusing? In your own life, I mean.
I'll admit that some of what Ferrell and O'Reilly get into is mildly diverting if you're a good-natured person who likes to be charitable (people were laughing at the screening I attended), but that's neither here nor there.
The premise connects because the age of supposed maturity (attaining mellow emotionality, knowing how to tie your shoelaces, getting down to a career, etc.) has been taking longer and longer with each generation, and we all know this and probably want to laugh at it to alleviate our concerns.
Guys who came out of World War I felt compelled to get down to marriage and raising kids in their early 20s. Then again the F. Scott Fitzgerald/Ernest Hemingway "lost generation" of the 1920s was the first to put stuff off as they wallowed in personal issues. The Depression toughened the nation up and kept almost everyone (except for the Beats of the late 1940s and '50s) on the straight and narrow until the mid '60s when all cultural hell broke loose. It was nonetheless considered a mark of at least some shame in the '70s for anyone to have delayed on Big Life Moves until their late 20s or early 30s.
The state of social devolution has continued unabated since the '70s, to the point that it's now considered totally normal for immature guys to kick around well into their 30s and sometimes into their early 40s. Ten or twenty years from now it'll be considered almost normal for guys to start thinking about coming to grips with maturity when they hit 45 or 50.
The world is culturally devolving, disassembling and swirling down the toilet bowl. That's why Step Brothers is a downer -- it's essentially a meditation about the end of the world. I'm kind of kidding, yes, but not altogether. Because the world is ending, in a sense. Mamma Mia! is another indicator. Ditto the red-state bumpkins who resent Barack Obama for wallowin' around in Afghanistan and Europe instead of taking care of business back home.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 25, 2008 at 9:58 AM
comment #1
BurmaShave says ...
A Ferrell-Reilly movie about the Fitzgerald-Hemingway rivalry would have been much better.
Posted by BurmaShave at July 25, 2008 12:26 PM
comment #2
bluefugue says ...
What drives me nuts is that the old Tim Meadows movie is called "The Ladies Man" rather than "The Ladies' Man."
Posted by bluefugue at July 25, 2008 12:27 PM
comment #3
CinemaPhreek says ...
Show of hands, please, for anyone could not predict the outcome of Jeff Wells going to see this (or any other) Will Ferrell movie?
Now, go out and find us a diverting indie, foreign language or TV show DVD that we can occupy ourselves with until PINEAPPLE EXPRESS arrives or the grown up movies come back in the fall, depending on individual readers' tastes.
Posted by CinemaPhreek at July 25, 2008 12:41 PM
comment #4
swhitty says ...
I blame Judd Apatow, who didn't know where the hyphen went in "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" (sic) either.
At least that movie was funny, though.
Posted by swhitty at July 25, 2008 12:41 PM
comment #5
Zimmergirl says ...
This is all you need to know:
I need to say right now that anyone who goes this weekend and laughs uproariously is showing their colors. I'm not saying it'll mark you as a mongrel for finding it amusing but if you laugh heartily and repeatedly it will say something about your level of refinement and your vistas.
LOL. What is this, Nazi Germany?
Posted by Zimmergirl at July 25, 2008 12:49 PM
comment #6
Gordie Lachance says ...
I'm sorry, but weren't Abbott & Costello and WC Filelds playing unemployed layabouts well into their 50's??
It's comedy, Jeff. Lighten up.
Posted by Gordie Lachance at July 25, 2008 1:19 PM
comment #7
The Pope says ...
My personal favorite grammatically incorrect title is, of all films, DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Notice the lack of an apostrophe to denote those who own, or are in possession of, or belong to the society. And this is a fiilm about a bunch of kids who are in awe of words!
On a lighter note, Jeff, I think you're seeing far too much into a simple, dumb-ass comedy. Furthermore, I'm quite certain that anyone with a sociology major would sweep away most every one of your generalizations about the age of supposed maturity.
Posted by The Pope at July 25, 2008 1:23 PM
comment #8
StanGrossman says ...
Oh boy. Someone needs a hug.....
Posted by StanGrossman at July 25, 2008 1:53 PM
comment #9
Jethro says ...
Just think of "dead poets" as an adjective modifying "society" and all your apostrophe worries will go away
Posted by Jethro at July 25, 2008 2:21 PM
comment #10
Terry McCarty says ...
But I realized early on that immaturity in and of itself isn't funny. It never is or has been.
So Laurel and Hardy are unfunny too?
Posted by Terry McCarty at July 25, 2008 2:38 PM
comment #11
ROTC says ...
bluefugue: A "Ladies Man" is a man who attracts and has expertise with ladies. It is not possessive and therefore does not require an apostrophe.
The Pope: The "Dead Poets Society" was a society devoted to celebrating the works of dead poets. Likewise, that usage is not possessive either.
What always bugs me, though, is whenever I see a sign for a "Mens Room."
Posted by ROTC at July 25, 2008 2:39 PM
comment #12
Captain MonkeyPants says ...
LOL Killjoy! Or is it kill joy? Kill-joy perhaps?
Q- Is this Nazi Germany?
A- Maybe. I'll get back to that one in November.
Q- Is Step Brothers a funny film?
A- Probably not.
Posted by Captain MonkeyPants at July 25, 2008 2:43 PM
comment #13
Jack Price says ...
"You can't stop what's comin'. It ain't all waitin' on you. That's vanity."
Posted by Jack Price at July 25, 2008 2:46 PM
comment #14
The Pope says ...
Jethro and ROTC,
Sincere thanks for clearing up 19 years of what I thought was a legitimate bug-bear.
Posted by The Pope at July 25, 2008 3:00 PM
comment #15
cwratliff says ...
Sense of humor is really subjective-- so if someone thinks Richard Jenkins' performance in this film is genuinely funny, it will say something about that person's "level of refinement" and "vistas"? That seems awfully condescending, and unnecessarily so.
Can't you just express that YOU didn't find it funny without passing judgment on those who did or might?
Posted by cwratliff at July 25, 2008 3:25 PM
comment #16
Gaydos says ...
Jeff: You missed that (SEMI-SPOILER HERE) turn where the movie really changed from a story about arrested development (remember that show?) to one about how to avoid becoming an "adult" which too often equals "robot."
Smart critics like Scott Foundas spotted this, but folks like Jeff who can't let a Ferrell go by without a whack in the chops probably won't be open to this experience.
Here's what Scott wrote:
"Not to wax too philosophical here - this is, after all, a movie in which two nearly middle-aged men beat each other over the head with blunt instruments - 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," whether it's a wife and 2.5 kids, a six-pack of rock-hard abs or a seven-figure bank account. Does that make Step Brothers terminally juvenile or borderline profound? A movie for the masses or a stealth mockery of them?"
Posted by Gaydos at July 25, 2008 3:37 PM
comment #17
T. Holly says ...
Isn't Scott charitable.
Posted by T. Holly at July 25, 2008 4:16 PM
comment #18
Richardson says ...
"I'm not saying it'll mark you as a mongrel for finding it amusing but if you laugh heartily and repeatedly it will say something about your level of refinement and your vistas."
I wonder when on the sliding scale of maturity a person gains the ability to understand that their opinion is not a deeper truth, but is just another opinion.
And when Jeff will get there.
"But I realized early on that immaturity in and of itself isn't funny. It never is or has been."
If only The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Monty Python, Cheech & Chong, (early) Steve Martin and (very early) Woody Allen didn't exist, there probably wouldn't be all that many counter-examples to disprove your absurd statement.
I mean, there would still be both of Larry David's television creations, where the protagonists are incredibly immature... oh, and 'Animal House' and 'Caddyshack'...
I love it when people don't like something, and decide that they have to Make A Rule. "Not only is this movie bad, but it proves that NOTHING LIKE IT COULD EVER BE GOOD." Nothing more mature than doing that.
Posted by Richardson at July 25, 2008 4:53 PM
comment #19
Chase Kahn says ...
Wells should have said, "Anyone who laughs at this is showing their true CULURRRRS UNFORTUNUTLYYYYYYYYYY...."
Posted by Chase Kahn at July 25, 2008 5:17 PM
comment #20
D.Z. says ...
I liked it, but it had pacing issues, though not as awful as in Meet the Fockers. It does prove that the MPAA is rigged, though, since Ferrel's pouch gets an R, but Tony Leung's package in "Lust, Caution" gets an NC-17. Also, Einstein and Gaughin didn't make it big until they were middle-aged, so...
Phreek: I was initially reluctant to see 'Express, but the trailer is working on me.
Posted by D.Z. at July 25, 2008 6:10 PM
comment #21
Supernetuser says ...
Deevolution has been happening for a long time. We're just not going to catch up or improve. Hopefully this was grammatically correct enough for your taste.
Posted by Supernetuser at July 25, 2008 6:44 PM
comment #22
worrywort says ...
So this movie is not about step dancing?
Posted by worrywort at July 25, 2008 7:16 PM
comment #23
Gaydos says ...
Also, at the screening on Monday I sat next to one of the world's most respected, scholarly, serious critics of capital C cinema and he was laughing his pocket protector off. The Two Stooges in Sensitivity Training isn't everyone's laff fest but it seemed to work on the aud i saw it with and there weren't any mouthbreathers to be seen. For the record, I still don't get Anchorman, found Stranger Than Fiction overwrought and I thought Semi Pro was an unmitigated disaster, so I'm not automatically buying everything that Will is selling, but this one is pretty good. Not Talladega and Elf good, but I laughed. Sue me.
Posted by Gaydos at July 25, 2008 7:50 PM
comment #24
Gordie Lachance says ...
Okay, just saw Step Brothers. Loved it, more than anything else McKay and the Ferrel gang have done. They seem to have nailed down their formula with this one, a perfect mix of absurdity, vulgarity and honest sentiment.
Posted by Gordie Lachance at July 25, 2008 10:07 PM
comment #25
Terry McCarty says ...
Saw it last night; a number of laughs, but basically peaks around the 30-35 minute mark. I remember someone giving a critique of DUCK SOUP (a better film than STEP BROTHERS) and writing something like "everyone in it was meshugennah (sp?); crazy on crazy is no good."
It seemed that, unlike the earlier Ferrell/McKay collaborations, there's too much "anything for a laugh, no matter how implausible" plus "let's change the rules of our universe when necessary."
Though the playground showdown after the initial end-credits is a neat parody of the ending of the Lester-driven theatrical version of SUPERMAN II.
Posted by Terry McCarty at July 26, 2008 12:43 PM
comment #26
Cadavra says ...
The reason for the variant spelling of the title is that research revealed the target audience has a problem with three-syllable words.
Posted by Cadavra at July 27, 2008 1:14 PM
comment #27
Josh says ...
Only Wells can compare Step Brothers to Obama's lame world trip.
Posted by Josh at July 28, 2008 6:23 AM
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