Piano Lessons

Has the potential to be a disaster. But it turns out to be hilarious, if extremely immature and simple. But it rapidly descends down hill after the hour mark, 31 October 2009

“They Grow Up So Fast”

Adam McKay, the director of the popular films “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”, puts Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly together as two forty year-old men who, you could say, have never grown up. They are both spoiled rotten and still live at home. Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) has a great singing voice, but is very particular about who he sings in front of (As his mother Nancy tells them, she has only heard him sing twice!). Dale Doback lives at home with his father, who is a successful doctor. Dale plays video games and the drums all day, and masturbates over his porn mags from the 70′s and 80′s (“It’s like masturbating in a time machine!”, he later tells Brennan). Dale has never had a job, and Brennan has had one small job, so that makes Brennan the maturest of the two, but by the skin of a tooth! Nancy and Robert Doback get married, and Brennan and Nancy move in with Robert and Dale. Dale and Brennan are protesting against sharing a house together, never mind the fact that they must share a room, as Dale won’t give up his ‘office’ (Which is devoted to his drum set). The two torment each other, and push Robert and Nancy to the limit. But the two forge a successful rebellion against Brennan’s younger, successful brother Derek, when he comes to visit.

This is my first Adam McKay film, and my first, Will Ferrell film, I’m embarrassed to say. The comedy genre wouldn’t be one of my favourites, so I’ve always avoided these types of films (Especially “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights”). I really enjoyed this, and I went into this expecting nothing, thinking it was going to be awful. I like John C. Reilly, I think he is an excellent actor (Judging from his serious roles in “Casualties of War” and “Dolores Claiborne”), and I was afraid of seeing him making a fool of himself. But in the end, I realised that Reilly is just as good as playing a non-serious role as he is in a serious one. Ferrell really surprised me, as I’ve always thought him as being a clown (That’s why we shouldn’t judge people before seeing them, I suppose). But he is very good in this as Brennan, and the two make a great pair in the film. Adam Scott (“The Return”) and Kathryn Hahn (“Anchorman…”) both provide great performances as Derek and his wife Alice. And Mary Steenburgen (“Philadelphia”) and Richard Jenkins (“The Kingdom”) both are brilliant as Nancy and Robert. It’s interesting to note, that in the 2003 film “Elf”, Steenburgen played Will Ferrell’s character’s step mother! “Step Brothers” is the first comedy in awhile to make me laugh so hard. I loved nearly every line and childish insult. The first half of the movie is great, but it really begins to go down hill after about an hour, which I’m sorry to say. Because apart from that, “Step Brothers” is a very good movie, that is funny and entertaining and has two great performances from Reilly and Ferrell.