Step Brothers
Two unemployed forty-year-old man-children become unwilling stepbrothers and discover that shared immaturity can make an unexpectedly powerful friendship.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- vulgar
- absurd
- late night comedy
- group movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly agreed that the film’s success depends on whether its vulgar absurdity and Ferrell-Reilly chemistry feel exuberant or simply abrasive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Brennan and Dale are middle-aged men living with their parents and behaving like hostile children.
The newly married parents force their sons to share a bedroom, making the home the center of rivalry and comic disruption.
Brennan and Dale are both slackerish, aggressive, and emotionally stunted, so their alliance intensifies through sameness.
The film repeatedly escalates profanity, childish competition, and domestic antagonism into broad absurdity.
Films like Step Brothers, and why
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
shares vulgar buddy comedy, arrested development, escalating male rivalry, and chaotic domestic conflict
The Other Guys
shares abrasive absurdist humor, immature adult protagonists, and a friendship formed through competitive hostility
Pineapple Express
shares slacker comedy, profane escalation, and dysfunctional adults resisting responsibility
Movie Details
- Director
- Adam McKay
- Release Date
- 2008-07-25
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (3531)
Cast
- Will Ferrell
- John C. Reilly
- Richard Jenkins
- Mary Steenburgen
- Adam Scott
- Kathryn Hahn
- Andrea Savage
- Rob Riggle
- Lurie Poston
- Elizabeth Yozamp
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- YouTube TV
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Step Brothers about?
- Two unemployed forty-year-old man-children become unwilling stepbrothers and discover that shared immaturity can make an unexpectedly powerful friendship.
- What is Step Brothers like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Step Brothers as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.
- Is Step Brothers violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Step Brothers as mild.
- What did critics think of Step Brothers?
- Critics broadly agreed that the film’s success depends on whether its vulgar absurdity and Ferrell-Reilly chemistry feel exuberant or simply abrasive.
- Which films are like Step Brothers?
- Films with a similar feel include Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Other Guys, and Pineapple Express.
- How long is Step Brothers?
- Step Brothers runs 98 minutes.
- Where can I watch Step Brothers?
- In United States, Step Brothers streams on YouTube TV.
