Anchorman and Talladega Nights are two of my favorite comedies of the last decade, so I’m not going to panic over this merely amusing trailer for the third Will Ferrell/Adam McKay big screen collaboration, Step Brothers. The basic concept of the movie – the deadbeat adult children of a newlywed couple wage war against each other – is too perfect for Ferrell and John C. Reilly to not work; after Talladega Nights, I’d pay to see these guys in a straight, gender-reversed remake of The Silence.
There’s nothing in this trailer that suggests a disaster, but the tone is surprisingly creepy; then again, forty-year-old guys still living with their parents are kinda creepy (I’d love to see a statistical breakdown on how many of these sad sacks turn out to be kiddie-touchers or worse). McKay’s pretty insane, but he’s not ready to commit career suicide just yet, so unless the trailer’s holding back the most ill-advised third-act twist of all time, it looks like the film will just go heavy on the random zaniness.
For those of you hoping for a full-blown child molestation romp, this might come as a crushing disappointment, but, hey, what’s not to love about Ferrell and Reilly going to a job interview dressed in formal wear? Or an able-bodied Reilly pleading with Ferrell to not bury him alive? Some of the bits feel a bit rehashed (e.g. the boys getting assaulted by a swarm of elementary school kids), but there’s promise here. And why spoil all of the big laughs now? Step Brothers isn’t due for release until July 25th.