Step Brothers
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: July 25, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
15
Negative:
5
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York PostKyle Smith
There is too much funny here for a movie (even though it continues into the closing credits). Step Brothers should be a TV show. Read full review
80
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Not to wax too serious here (since this is, after all, a movie in which two nearly middle-aged men beat each other over the heads with blunt instruments on their front lawn), 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." Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
So childish it seems to arrive in diapers, and that's not bad; it's good. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Step Brothers is a Judd Apatow production and it's the closest that the Apatow factory has come to spitting out a dumb-and-dumber high-concept comedy. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
While Ferrell and Reilly are great together, hatching harebrained schemes that have no basis in reality, part of the unexpected treat of Step Brothers is watching Jenkins and Steenburgen sink to such blithely immature levels of rude and crude comedy. Read full review
75
PremiereJenni Miller
Step Brothers is a hard R, for good reason. While it's somewhat sweeter, if you will, than a typical Apatow flick, the ludicrous situations call for equally ludicrous behavior and statements. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Stupid, crude and hilarious, Step Brothers works by sneaking past our better judgment. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Step Brothers at its best is a smarter "Dumb and Dumber." Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Stupid, predictable and fairly funny. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Starting at infantile and regressing hysterically from there, Step Brothers flies on the comic chemistry of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not credited)
The inspired pairing of "Talledega's" Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, two actors smart enough to play dumb and make it work. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a testament to their performances -- and the spirit of this surprisingly raunchy, decidedly R-rated comedy -- that by the end credits, you've grown to like them a little bit. You just wouldn't want to live with them. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Take the kids at your peril. Mismarketing aside, Step Brothers is crudely funny, which means that sometimes it's crudely hilarious and more often it's just crude. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesSam Adams
Step Brothers is not a retread so much as a reduction, stripping away the magical pretext of "Elf" and the period trappings of "Anchorman" to get to the heart of the thriving man-boy genre. Read full review
60
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)
It's no Anchorman, but it's several steps in the right direction. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Reilly is a good foil for Ferrell, but too many of their scenes together have the effect of improv night at the comedy club. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
I don't want to sound like a party pooper (or deny that there is something wickedly funny about seeing these middle-age adolescents beating the crap out of a playground full of little bullying kids) but there's something depressing about the never-ending celebration of eternal adolescence in recent American comedies. Read full review
50
VarietyJohn Anderson
The film is funny at times but lapses into the reflexive vulgarity that seems to be the default mechanism of the Apatow machinery. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The Will Ferrell comedy engine is running on empty in Step Brothers. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
This is a loud, ugly, foul comedy whose shortcomings extends far into the supporting cast. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleReyhan Harmanci
Essentially a throwaway film. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
America loves dysfunctional families, but haven't we seen enough middle-aged losers who haven't grown up? Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
A meagre, occasionally funny affair. Read full review
50
Film ThreatMark Bell
Simply, the movie is a tale of extremes resulting in a tepid middleground. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Are Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay getting tired of their own shtick? Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Step Brothers has comic fuel to burn, some of it unashamedly non sequitur and stupid-brilliant, but it still feels like a post-"Talladega" flameout. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The only thing that can explain middle-aged men acting like 6-year-olds is mental retardation, and there's nothing funny about that. The idea of middle-aged actors playing adolescents isn't much funnier. Put it this way: Such an idea does not make for an inexhaustible source of comedy. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
They're losers that only a mother, an entertainment manager or a gang of self-satisfied comedy insiders could love. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
In Step Brothers, the language is simply showing off by talking dirty. It serves no comic function, and just sort of sits there in the air, making me cringe. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Humor is subjective, but this movie made me feel as if I had been subjected to something unpleasant. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Ferrell and Reilly get more mileage out of juvenile pouting and bickering than any other performers I can imagine, but that's about as far as this goes. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
So that's three snickers, not counting the Bush quote, 'cause including that one ain't fair, man. Read full review
0
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
There's a good subject for satire here, the extended adolescence of American kids. But satire presupposes maturity, or at least some perspective. The movie's calculation is that its subjects and audience share the same point of view. The results are truly ghastly. Read full review
More From This Movie

51 Critic Reviews

7.9 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL