Will Ferrell: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

5 Performances That Sucked...

5. Brennan - Step Brothers (2008)

When their parents get married, Brennan and Dale (John C. Reilly) become step brothers and rivals. Aged 39 and 40 respectively, they are two spoiled kids who never moved out, and upon meeting each other they embark upon a long saga to make something of themselves, arguing and battling along the way. Don't get me wrong, 'Boats N' Hoes' is one of my favourite comedy songs, and I still find this film entertaining, quite hilarious in places. But search 'Step Brothers funniest quotes' on YouTube and most, if not all of the video compilations are focused on John Reilly, not Ferrell. The simple fact of the matter is, Ferrell, while still occasionally being pretty funny, struggled through Step Brothers. Unlike in his best performances, he mostly fails to justify his character, and instead what we end up with is a 10 year old in a middle-aged man's body, nothing more, and very little reason to identify with him. Step Brothers sees Ferrell coasting along complacently, and by this point it seems he'd decided on a style and chose to stick with it, rather that putting any extra effort in. The role seems to be for his own entertainment more than anything else, and it reeks of wasted potential. It's a shame: the interplay between the brothers could have been great, but unfortunately Reilly was the only one who saw that the rivalry should also be between the actors themselves. A film with the two skilled comedians convincingly trying to better each other would have made a much funnier film, but you couldn't do that, could you Ferrell?