BOYS WILL INDEED BE BOYS IN IMMATURE 'STEP BROTHERS'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp

Film Critic

Will Ferrell's latest man-child is named Brennan. We learn in the opening moments of "Step Brothers" that Brennan is 39 years old, has recently been fired from his job at Pet Smart and lives at home with his mother (Mary Steenburgen). Brennan has a fondness for Pablo Cruise T-shirts, dinosaurs and chicken nuggets.

Across town, Dale (John C. Reilly) lives with his doctor dad (Richard Jenkins). Dale is 40 and spends most of his time playing drums in his "beat laboratory" in the upstairs spare bedroom. Like Brennan, his wardrobe consists of novelty T-shirts and sweat pants. Like Brennan, Dale digs velociraptors. Like Brennan, Dale has the emotional maturity of an Irish setter.

That Dale and Brennan are essentially the same person is part of the joke here, though their sameness does little to establish them as characters. But Ferrell and his longtime collaborator, director Adam McKay, have never been particularly interested in creating recognizable human beings as much as absurd comic scenarios they can use to push the boundaries of cartoon-comedy outrageousness.

Dale's dad and Brennan's mom marry, which means that these two grown men must pull a "Brady Bunch" and form an ad hoc family. The movie charts their evolution of this family as the stepbrothers move from groin kicks to bear hugs. And how could it not? These must be the only two men on planet Earth who use Good Housekeeping as a sexual aid. (Please don't ask.)

And so it goes. "Step Brothers" possesses the same off-the-cuff feel as previous Ferrell-McKay movies ("Anchorman," "Talladega Nights"). But this one is rated R, which means that, within the first five minutes, you get a freakin' earful. And, like other recent Judd Apatow productions, you also eventually get an eyeful. In this case, Brennan unzips his fly and uses his privates as agents of retaliation. (Again: Don't ask.)

"Step Brothers" manages to wring a few laughs from its premise. Most of them come from Jenkins trying to maintain a slow boil in the face of "rumpus time," desperately wanting Brennan and Dale to put away childish things, grow up and move the bleep out.

Facing an ultimatum, the boys have no choice but to stow away the "Star Wars" T-shirts and set the alarm clock. The ensuing horror doesn't involve blunt instruments, but it's clear that, to Ferrell and McKay, it's much worse. Nine to five? Like Sam Cooke sang: That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang.

STEP BROTHERS - Two and one half stars

>R: crude and sexual content, language.

>Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins.

>Director: Adam McKay.

>Running time: 1 hr. 35 min.

>Playing: Area wide.

>In a nutshell: Ferrell and Reilly do the man-child thing again, only this time it's R-rated and not quite as funny.

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Photo:

Middle-age, overgrown boys Dale (John C. Reilly, left) and Brennan (Will Ferrell) are forced to live together as stepbrothers when their single parents marry.