Step Brothers

Will Farrell is in a rut—first came a series of increasingly unfunny sports comedies (assembly-line productions from the Judd Apatow factory), and now this depressing affair pairing him with his Talladega Nights co-star John C. Reilly. They play Dale and Brennan, two delusional, middle-aged adolescents still living with their single parents. When Brennan’s mother and Dale’s father meet and marry, the boys wage a psychotic, destructive battle over parental affection and personal space. The gags are predictable if you’ve seen anything produced by Apatow—pottymouthed kids, impromptu music videos, Farrell’s naked body—and the film’s one intriguing twist is also its most repulsive: The two leads play their characters not like overgrown 12 year-olds, but like actual 12 year-olds. D.B.