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Step Brothers

Score: 78%
Rating: Not Rated
Publisher: Sony Pictures Home
                  Entertainment

Region: A
Media: Blu-ray/2
Running Time: 98 Mins.
Genre: Comedy
Audio: English, French, Portuguese
           Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish, Thai
           5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French,
           Spanish, Portuguese, Thai,
           Korean, Chinese


Features:

  • BD Live
  • Disc 1:
    • Both Theatrical and Extended Versions
    • Commentary with John C. Reillly, Adam McKay, Special Guest Baron Davis and Scored by Jon Brion
    • Boats 'N Hoes Music Video Editor
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Extended and Alternate Scenes
  • Disc 2:
    • Line-O-Rama
    • Gag Reel
    • Job Interviews
    • Therapy
    • Prestige Worldwide Full Presentation
    • Boats 'N Hoes - Music Video
    • Dale vs. Brennan
    • The Making of Step Brothers
    • The Music of Step Brothers
    • Charlyne Moves In
    • L'Amour En Caravane
    • Red Band Trailer

Step Brothers is another move that does a great job playing with the comedic chemistry between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (something we saw really well in Talladega Nights). This time, the two play middle-aged men with no desire to move out of their respective parents' houses. Of course, their parents don't really have a problem with this until they meet and fall in love at a convention. When Brennan's (Ferrell) mother and Dale's (Reilly) father meet and have a whirlwind relationship only to marry really quickly, the two spoiled guys are forced to live together and, of course, immediately hate each other.

Nancy (Brennan's mother played by Mary Steenburgen) tries to be accepting of the new living arrangements and tries really hard to get the two boys to play nice together. Meanwhile, all Dr. Doback (Richard Jenkins, Dale's Dad) can do is think about how to get the sons to finally hold down a job, move them out and retire with Nancy on his boat. This, of course, is only exacerbated by Brennen's perfect, and quite frankly asshole-ish, brother, Derek (Adam Scott) who convinces Dr. Doback that he can sell the house for enough money to let them retire early.

When Dale realizes how much he hates his other new step brother, Dale and Brennen team up (finally realizing they they should actually be best friends), they work together to sabotage Derek's sales opportunities. Meanwhile, they also go on a series of job interviews, but of course, they aren't really what any employer is looking for.

Step Brothers has two discs of special features to compliment both the theatrical and extended versions of the film. Not only does the release contain a pretty good commentary, but also the full music video for the sons' sales pitch (that would be their "Aqua-rap" song "Boats 'N Hoes"). The second disc also features a gag reel, featurettes about the making-of and the music of the film and a ton of clips showing off the pair's excessive use of ad-libbing (actually, this particular aspect can get quite annoying). This last bit is several scenes from the movie where Ferrell and Reilly just constantly came up with fairly good stuff. But quite frankly, the creme of the crop was used for the film and the rest doesn't quite match up.

A feature I really enjoyed was "L'Amour En Caravane." Posed as a behind the scenes type documentary, it follows the supposedly budding relationship between Jenkins and Steenburgen. But when Kathryn Hahn (who play's Derek's wife) and Scott find themselves in the middle of the awkward situation, they decide to nip things in the bud by calling Steenburgen's husband, Ted Danson. Another similar fake documentary is about a 14 year-old girl who decides to move onto the set and the cast's decision to let her stay, but also their frustration for having to work around her.

Step Brothers is a movie about growing up, but also staying true to who you are. Not only do Ferrell and Reilly play well off of each other, but Steenburgen and Jenkins also add the right amount of chemistry to the mix. And when the film introduces Derek and his family (especially Derek's wife), things just get better. Step Brothers is definitely one of those movies that is funnier, and better, than it has any right to be. But as far as getting it on Blu-ray over DVD, there isn't enough here to make you want to shell out the extra bucks. Special features are mostly the same, and there isn't really any benefit to the higher definition visuals (unlike other movies with any kind of CG effects).



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

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