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Step Brothers (2008)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Step Brothers. Feature film. (2008, 97 mins) IMDB

...I thought comedies were supposed to have laughs....

T

here is a classical structure to this film with a bloody stupid and unbelievable ending.

Dale is 40, a deadbeat and lives with his father who is a successful doctor of some type.

Brennan is just like Dale except instead of a father, he has a mother.

Guess what? The mother and father met at a conference, jump into bed and into marriage. And Dale and Brennan's lives are turned upside down. (Inciting incident.)

Act I is about the setup and how these two children (because that's what they are) are forced to live together and hate it.

In Act II they have to deal with a new threat, their parents want them out of the house, to be responsible, to grow up. It takes them a while to get the drift but they do and they get lame jobs. In the process, the newlyweds split up. Time to get them back.

Act III shows their transformation from children to adults with an additional crisis. Brennan organized an event where it's do or die. Well it dies, because the cover band he hired is heckled off the stage. Enter Dale and Brennan and their hidden talents. One as the drummer, the other a singer. Give me a break. It just doesn't work. It's not the least bit plausible, but, hey, that's a Hollywood movie for you.

I had a look at some numbers and dates on this film. It was released in July 2008. The DVD release is a few months after the fact. Films these days go to DVD very quickly.

Second, a budget number for this film is $65mm. How does a small film (i.e., few characters, few sets, no fx, no post CGI and so on) cost that much? It makes absolute no sense. None. That type of investment for a small film makes absolutely no sense. None.

P.S. That 65 mil number only includes the cost to get the print in the can. It doesn't include marketing and promotion cost. Add $20mm plus.

I forgot to mention the uber-American younger brother to Brennan and his nympho wife, but is there really any point?

Posted 2009/01/27 at 19h50ET in Movie Commentary.

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