Step Brothers Is Representative Of Most Adults Today, Says Director

Step Brothers director Adam McKay says that the film’s two main characters are representative of most adults today. After its release in 2008, Step Brothers quickly became a phenomenon and rocketed stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly to new levels of fame. The immensely quotable comedy features Ferrell and Reilly as Brennan and Dale, respectively, two middle-aged men who find themselves trapped under the same roof after their parents get married.

The film sees the two stars each bring out their inner man-child and features a number of hilarious sequences, including emotional meltdowns at the dinner table and full-on fights to the death on the front lawn. McKay, who also directed 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, would go on to direct several high-profile, Oscar-winning films, including The Big Short and Vice. McKay’s latest project, Don’t Look Up, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, and Jennifer Lawrence, and is set to release on Netflix in December.

In a new interview with the LA Times, McKay reflects on Step Brothers and claims that, in many ways, it’s the most prescient movie in his filmography. He says that some of the things adults are doing today – particularly in response to having to wear a mask in public – are even more ridiculous than the things done by Brennan and Dale in the film. Check out McKay’s full comment below:

“I would say the most prophetic turned out to be Step Brothers — that’s the most like the world we’re living in. Step Brothers was a living cartoon when it came out, [and now] it’s literally true. When you see giant grown-ups screaming and kicking over furniture because they have to wear a mask, that’s actually more preposterous than Step Brothers.”

McKay seems to be referencing the various viral videos of people who refuse to wear a mask in certain establishments and then proceed to have temper tantrums when they’re asked to either comply or leave. After producing The Campaign in 2012, McKay directed The Big Short, a film that very directly critiques aspects of the economic and financial systems that govern America. Similarly, 2018’s Vice directly explores America’s political systems. It’s ironic, then, that one of McKay’s silliest films, Step Brothers, has in many ways become the most prescient in today’s age and is representative of adults’ behavior when on opposing sides of various issues.

While the earlier films of his career such as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Anchorman, and The Other Guys play largely like silly but entertaining comedies, it does become clear that, as his career continues, McKay is interested in using his work to critique and explore social, political, and economic issues. His movies have remained comedic in tone but have, as of late, been leaning more heavily into drama based on real-world concerns. While there is an element of hyperbole to what McKay is saying in terms of Step Brothers being his most prophetic film, there seems to be a great deal of truth to the notion that a film about two man-children throwing tantrums and struggling to get along is representative of how many adults conduct themselves today.

Source: LA Times

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