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What happens when two forty year old men who refuse to grow up are thrown together by the marriage of their single parents? Brawls, plots, and more importantly, laughs.

Brennan (Will Farrell) is an idiot who has it made living off his co-dependant mother, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen). Dale (John C. Reilly) is a guitar hero playing moron who constantly agitates his father, Robert (Richard Jenkins). Then, in a chance encounter, Robert and Nancy meet and fall in love. They marry and move in together, forcing Brennan and Dale together. They approach each other like eight year olds, with attitude and boundary testing. What begins as blatant tension quickly becomes outright war with personal boundaries crossed, testicles on a drum set, and a fight with Brennan shouting rape! This all leads the parents to decide that something must be done; the boys must get jobs and move out.

Unfortunately for their prospective employers, Brennan and Dale discover that they’re very similar, and instantly become best friends. Whether they created destruction hating each other quickly becomes a moot point as they piss off every employer and get beaten up by a gang of children (Will Ferrell licking decaying dog poop is hilarious, incidentally), destroy a boat and eventually bring their parents to the point of despair – and divorce. The boys are split apart after one last spectacular fight (and one of the boys gets buried alive). Though they both try to move on with their lives, no one is happy and it isn’t until the Catalina Wine Mixer that things fall into place and everyone gets their happily ever after.

There are so many gags in this movie that it’s hard to keep them all straight. Ferrell in a Nazi costume and Reilly in a KKK robe is one of the first that comes to mind, though balancing a budget in a wookie mask and the sleepwalking bits are also bizarrely brilliant. Reilly and Ferrell are genius together, and I hope we have many more of their collaborations in the future.

The two disc unrated edition comes with assloads of extras. Extended and alternate scenes, deleted scenes, more job interview and therapy session outtakes, gag reels and extra takes on lines are just the beginning. There’s the full version of the music video “Boats ‘N Hoes” and the Prestige Worldwide full presentation. Featurettes are in plentiful supply, with a making of, “Dale vs. Brennan – Sibling Rivalry” and “The Music of Step Brothers”. Also included is commentary from Farrell, Reilly, Adam McKay and Baron Davis of the NBA. There’s also access to the digital version of the film, a feature that has become ubiquitous among the bigger releases.

Good gags, great features – this is a fun movie with plenty to keep you entertained long after it’s over.

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