Step Brothers (2008, Adam McKay) (Patreon)

"I understand why you can't do this," a friend DM'd me, "but you should overrule the Step Brothers vote and watch Walk Hard instead. There is no way in hell you will like Step Brothers." Had hoped to prove him wrong—I contain multitudes, dammit! Even sorta liked Batman & Robin!—but it's hard to embrace a film that aggregates almost every one of your least favorite comedic tropes. With the notable, ultra-extreme exception of Pee-wee Herman (and even that's largely attributable to early Burton; Big Top Pee-wee was a chore), I've never much enjoyed man-child antics; while Ferrell and Reilly are admirably committed to the idiocy, and inherently funny enough to keep the experience from being painful, there's only so much juvenile belligerence I can handle at one time. About an SNL sketch's worth, basically. And then on top of that you've got fart jokes, poop jokes, realistic fake testicles rubbed all over a drum kit, etc. Just not for me. Again, though, the actors (including Steenburgen and Jenkins as straightfaced foils, plus a Seth Rogen cameo that's very funny until it turns into a fart joke) keep it watchable even when I'm not laughing. One can at least appreciate the purity.

Ancillary observation: In a drama, it can be immensely satisfying when something that appears entertainingly random later turns out to be a plot point, not actually random at all. That always seems clever. In a comedy, though, it bugs me to the point of making jokes retroactively less hilarious. Here's my single favorite moment in Step Brothers:

"We are California's pre-eminent 1980's Billy Joel cover band."

"Piano Man! WOO!"

[beat]

"What did I just say, man?"

That's all I needed. Didn't want the joke explained or repeated, and I absolutely didn't want to it be part of the setup for the big climax. So of course it's explained for the benefit of viewers who don't know which Billy Joel songs came out when and repeated multiple times with other era-inappropriate requests and is ultimately revealed as a means of "unexpectedly" getting the title characters onstage to perform "Por Ti Volaré" (which, okay, good choice of song). Embrace non sequiturs, comedians.