Family matters

And to think, the world had almost accepted Will Ferrell’s descent into irrelevance.
In “Step Brothers,” Will Ferrell plays Brennan Huff, a live-at-home 40-year-old who, upon his mother’s remarriage, must learn to live with his new stepbrother Dale, played by John C. Reilly, who lives much the same life.

Although the two initially resent each other, they learn to get along and together have to find a way to deal with their parents’ demands and soon enough grow up and move out.

Unlike many recent Will Ferrell movies, largely tired mash-ups of the same formula (a successful but blindly arrogant man suffers a setback), “Step Brothers” taps into Ferrell’s ability by giving him two things he hasn’t lately had access to: an equally talented co-star and a license to be unrepentantly immature. It’s a much-needed remedy.

Ferrell’s last two movies, “Semi-Pro” and “Blades of Glory,” were uniformly disappointing, and viewers were quickly getting tired of seeing Will Ferrell deliver the same personality in a different suit, bouncing his talent off of co-actors who were unable, by script or by skill, to add anything of their own.

What makes “Step Brothers” so much better than their previous movies is that Reilly and Ferrell, whose chemistry first became apparent in “Talladega Nights,” are finally given free reign.

Equally winning is the script’s ability to connect with childhood in a manner so accurate, it reminds you of what a pain you must have been. When Reilly and Ferrell finally make up, and Reilly asks Ferrell if he wants to go do karate in the garage, one can’t help but be reminded of their own play dates gone by, and the infectious immaturity of boyhood.

But while the movie never gets tired, it doesn’t manage to go far, either. In an effort to allow us more of the same, what passes for character and plot development essentially reduces to putting Reilly and Ferrell into different scenarios and telling them to simply have at it.

The result is always entertaining, but some viewers may feel stifled by the lack of any real progression in the narrative.

The most salient feature of “Step Brothers,” however, may simply be that studios have finally discovered a way to use Ferrell that is commensurate with his potential. Hollywood’s most notable funnyman may turn out to be at his best only when he’s with someone like himself.

Either way, viewers win, and finally have a movie entertaining enough to resume Ferrell’s dynasty.