Step Brothers

Step Brothers 

“Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream”

actual quote from George W. Bush 

This is the first thing to appear on screen in “Step Brothers”, and it’s timing was impeccable. It was late 2008, and George W’s days were coming to an end – thank God. After eight years of stupidity in charge of the Free World, it would soon be over, but not before two more hours of stupidity featuring Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly. 

I learnt something in the opening credits of Step Brothers I never knew, and it changed my life. And that was how to make cheese nachos in the microwave! Here I was, using the oven like a sucker, when I could have just put some chips on a plate with cheese on top and have my gourmet snack ready in a minute. Thanks Will Ferrel for that tip. The other thing I learnt early on in this film, despite my strongest convictions that it would never happen, is that I could still be living at home with my parents by age forty. This is the set up for Step Brothers, and it’s a scary scenario for any 20-something, but told in a hilarious way. 

In true Will Ferrel style, this movie has one cracking joke after another, and enough lines to quote for the rest of your life. Joining the King of the Frat Pack this time around is John C. Reilly, who had turned in mostly dramatic roles since the early 90’s, but showed his comedic chops the year before this film with “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”. Reilly and Ferrel have great chemistry together, and take on their roles of Dale and Brennan respectively, with impeccable timing and style, so you will believe these two 40-year-old Man-Boys have made a living out of living at home, as long as possible. It sounds like a one note idea, but the movie is clever in many small ways, and gives you plenty to laugh about, and possibly recognise in yourself, as these two giant boys who never grew up, refuse to leave the nest behind. 

Guiding Dale and Brennan on their self-entitled odyssey to mooch around the family home forever, are esteemed actors Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen as their parents, Robert and Nancy. The casting of these two veterans of the screen was spot on, as their straight and simplistic acting style as fully mature adults, is a nice contrast to the overgrown adolescent characters Reilly and Ferrel play so perfectly. This makes Step Brothers a cut above many other Will Ferrel vehicles, because the premise is made believable by the acting. Nancy and Robert patiently parent their giant children, hoping they will one day pack up and get out, but even these two real adults can only withstand so much. They put up with a lot in the early days of the new family living together, as Dale and Brennan both make it their business to destroy each other’s life. 

Since Brennan and his mum move into Dales house, he only has one rule – don’t touch the drum set. Brennan does, of course, and decides to touch it with his scrotum. This is enough for Dale to lose his shit and the greatest fight of all time ensues. The two wrestle and tumble throughout the house, and end up on the front lawn. The parentals are called to the scene to see their sons duking it out in front of the house with half the street watching.  

To make things more complicated, Dale and Brennan are both sleepwalkers. One restful hight, they coincidentally get up at the same time, and proceed to run around the house, talking gibberish and doing sleep-walking things. This involves grounding coffee beans and eating them straight up, and placing cushions in the oven. 

Clearly, Brennan and Dale are pathetic lay abouts. What would two grown men still be doing living at home? Their reasons are never fully explained, but it’s a comedy, so that doesn’t matter. But as the film goes on, you will really like these two layabouts, feeling a sense of nostalgia in how they live their life. Imagine the bedroom of a teenage boy, which never changes even as he ages into his twenties and thirties? The two of them have the most random array of collectables, toys and awesome t-shirts. And as they interact with more and more “normal” adults, you can see how they have the problems, and Dale and Brennan are living life exactly on their own terms. 

But even when the pressure of reality starts to sink in, Brennan and Dale will still play by their own rules. Attending a series of job interviews, dressed in tuxedos, the two of them take nothing seriously. Instead of submitting to the interviewer’s questions, they become the interviewers, with each job they apply for going nowhere. They get close to a hiring at one stage, but when Dale farts for almost twenty seconds straight, the interviewer changes his mind, as the smell and taste of the fart is too much to bear. 

I saw this film in an odd place – Hobart, Tasmania. I was there with my family for a holiday, which was actually part of the Irish Dancing National Championships which my sisters and mum are involved in. As the competition was running, I had some time to myself, so explored Hobart by foot. Given it’s such a small city, I walked around the centre of it about three times in a couple of hours. With another day to pass and the city streets already ticked off my list, I went to the movies. Not much was showing, so I saw Step Brothers. I watched it and laughed along with the rest of the theatre, and let my imagination run away with me… what if I was still living at home at age 40? 

At this stage, I was 26 and had just finished my final course in Youth Work, but I didn’t have a job and I was still living at home. Oddly enough, a job I applied for called me back while I was in Tasmania and an interview was booked in the for the day after I got back. I ended up getting the role, which would be my first full-time Youth Work job. The plan was then to move out of home within six months, probably into a shared house situation. But as luck would have it, I met my future wife Nicole shortly after starting the job, and we got together. Soon after, we decided to return to America and work on her summer camp together, so I stayed at home to save money. By age 27, I was still at home and felt like I might be there forever. Just a silly thought, but you can’t help but feel that way in your 20’s when you’re still at home for whatever reason that is. 

Step Brothers came out in my 20’s, but it hasn’t aged. With its staying power almost a decade later, it’s a favourite for many people of my generation, and maybe that’s because there’s a little Dale and Brennan inside all of us. In your 20’s, taking on more responsibility is unavoidable. You want to move out of home, make your own way and not have to go back. But it’s not easy in today’s world. If it was easy and cheap, we’d all do it as soon as we turned 18. But our generation also likes to do other things, such as travel, do further study and try out a few jobs before we start a career. And that takes time. Living at home during this stage is helpful, but being in your 20’s with only your bedroom still as your only personal space, it becomes a matter of when push comes to shove and you gotta go. Thanks to Step-Brothers for being the film that reminds us not to take growing up too seriously, and even if you’re age goes up, that doesn’t mean your young self should go down. Well, at least not without a long fight, or a long fart for that matter. 

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