Starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly. Written by Will Ferrell, Adam
McKay. Directed by Adam McKay. (14A) 102 min. Opens July 25.
Nobody could mistake Adam McKay for an outstanding film director, but he is a master of the comedy of attrition. Each of the three proudly ragged movies that he has made with Will Ferrell — Anchorman, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and now Step Brothers — work you over through sheer volume (in both senses of the word) until you feel exhausted or exhilarated or both.
Step Brothers isn’t a marvel of non-sequitur hilarity to rank with Anchorman (but then, what is?). Its high concept — two developmentally arrested morons (Ferrell and John C. Reilly) turned step brothers engage in a territorial pissing match before becoming BFFs — is several rungs lower than Talladega Nights’ affectionately condescending flyover-country satire. But it’s funnier than its more smoothly conceived predecessor. It has less pretense towards being a “real” movie (its protagonists’ midlife growing pains are never played for real pathos) and for all the dead spots and failed gags, the highs are authentically stratospheric: the film culminates in an honest-to-goodness aria, wherein several peripheral characters’ fantasy lives are laid bare (centaurs are involved). Well-made movies come and go, but this kind of dementia is forever.