Step-Brothers

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  • Step-Brothers

    Just read it ... for about 2/3, it is hilarious. Ferrell and Reilly have a great chemistry and this really capitalizes on it, laugh out loud moments on just about every page ... then, story-wise, the wheels seem to fall off around page 95. The "step-brothers" turn into passive protagonists, and the ending is somewhat inconclusive, almost as if they couldn't figure out how to end it. And they never developed a clear antagonist.

    Would be interested to hear what anyone else thought. Anyone else read this one?

  • #2
    Re: Step-Brothers

    It's on my list to read, so it's cool you posted a review. I shall try and get around to it at some point and will add to this thread.

    EJ

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    • #3
      Re: Step-Brothers

      I thought for 2/3rds it was really a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Not to say it ended on a down note, it just didn't live up to the rest (which is pretty damn funny). But that said, I think this could become a real sleeper-hit. I don't think it's got the pull for the big opening BO (based on concept alone and age range of actors), but once word of mouth gets around, I think this will have very looong legs.

      Ferrel and Reilly will kill this role, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun watching them play this out on screen.

      One oddity was just how F and R are such a hit with the women in their lives, when they're such losers as characters.

      EDIT: Just realized that my review agreed with everything winter dreams wrote. lol.

      EJ

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      • #4
        Re: Step-Brothers

        Hey, I'm glad you read it, and also glad you agreed ... I think the last third fails because the writers copped out. Supposing for a second that I was being offered to give my take as a potential re-writer, here's what I'd suggest:

        SPOILERS AHEAD

        I think the wheels came off when the parents revealed that they had been in love all the time and that the divorce was just a ruse to get the step brothers to grow up. Seems like a nice reversal (or twist, I guess) at first, but the BIG problem with this is it suddenly makes the once-active protagonists passive. the step bros are no longer controlling their actions, the entire story was being controlled by the parents. From that point on, the brothers break off on their own directions -- Dale suddenly becomes responsible, and Brennan turns goth -- and then there's a weird scene near the end where Brennan crashes a big party and sings and people like it. I actually don't mind that scene but it would have worked so much better if the brothers had jointly planned this to the detriment of the would-be antagonist, Brennan's snotty brother (forget his name).

        Plus this reversal results in some logic problems, for instance, why would they actually put the house up for sale if they really didn't want to sell it? What if the snotty brother had successfully sold it, what then?

        I think this reversal was a cop-out by the writers. This was an easier path than trying to figure out a way for the step-brothers to get their parents back together AND have them mature into semi-responsible adults at the same time. That was the screenwriting challenge before the writers and I think they just bailed out and took this other route.

        If I was to rewrite it, I would stay with this initial course of action and devise an entirely new third act wherein the brothers somehow get their parents back together and in the process, become semi-responsible adults. How exactly I would do that will cost you the WGA minimum ...

        PS by the way, in watching the trailer, there appears to be a lot of lines I don't remember being in the script. Which means, apparently, that they did a lot of improv, which is unfortunate, because I thought the first 2/3 was hilarious as is, great lines.

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        • #5
          Re: Step-Brothers

          Winter & EJ are you guys basing this on just the script alone or have you seen the trailer? They have one up on apple trailers. Do you guys think based on the trailer it's living up to the script you read? Watched it today and thought there were some pretty funny moments. They do seem to have a good chemsitry (they're probably long time friends, seems like most of these guys are). I like WF and have liked JCR for a while now and seems like his popularity may be starting to grow.
          "The two hardest words to write are FADE IN. The two most gratifying are FADE OUT."

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          • #6
            Re: Step-Brothers

            I'm basing what I wrote above entirely on the script, which I read ... though I have seen the trailer and in the clips they used for the trailer, it looks like they deviated in several scenes from the dialogue in the script. Who knows, they may have deviated significantly from the script I read and even changed the structure, which needed changing, IMO.

            But even if they didn't change the structure, as EJ said, this could still be a big hit because for the first 2/3, it is utterly hilarious, with great dialogue playing directly to WF and JCR's strengths as comedic actors.

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            • #7
              Re: Step-Brothers

              winter,

              I should probably copy and paste what you wrote and just post it as my own thoughts. lol. Yes, I completely agree that the moment --

              SPOLIER MOMENTS

              -- where the parents revealed it was a fake-out, I did orginally think NICE, then after a moment, HOLD ON, THAT DOESN'T WORK. I thought it would've played out far far better had the Bros banged their heads together and TRY to get their parents back together again. This way they would've learned the life lessons they needed to learn, and also grow as adults and still keep in tact the ending at the boat event.

              And again, there was no reasoning why Alice found Dale so attractive, and same with Denise with Brennan. That element foxed me.

              I loved the character Derek (despite him being an ass). Anyone who gets their childrens to sing Guns N' Roses is cool in my books. lol.

              writer0825,

              I saw the trailer, then read the script. And again as winter said, they seem to deviate at times from the script a little, but it seems almost all is there.

              Having slept on it, I still think this film will probably go down in Will Ferrell's bio as one of his greatest, but I can't see it lighting up the BO and doing loads of damage (although I hope I'm wrong).

              EDIT: I thought the trailer was very funny.

              EJ

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              • #8
                Re: Step-Brothers

                So I saw the movie last night and they fixed all the problems me and Winter addressed.

                Wow, maybe the development process does work!

                EJ

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                • #9
                  Re: Step-Brothers

                  And 30$ mil opening BO weekend isn't too shabby either.

                  EJ

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                  • #10
                    Re: Step-Brothers

                    Out of the approximately 60 scripts I've read this summer, this was one of the worst. Painfully unfunny, overly long, dull. I could just imagine Will Ferrell saying some of these lame lines with a straight face but very loudly to get a laugh. Nothing funny being said, just his typical blow-hard delivery. The script was 126 pages, for crying out loud. For nothing more than a SNL sketch.

                    But I also saw the movie, and they really improved on the crappy script. They streamlined it, and the guy that played the younger brother held his own with Ferrell, and probably outdid Reilly (or is it O'Reilly?). That shocked me.

                    I give the film a solid nuetral, much better than I expected, and a the script a definite thumbs down. The film is light years better than what's on the page.

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