After directing them in Talladega Nights, which proved that their on-screen chemistry alone could carry a whole movie, Adam McKay conceived the premise of Step Brothers to give Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly ample opportunities to bounce off of each other. At the beginning of the movie, Brennan and Dale are mortal enemies, forced to live under the same roof when their parents get married. By the end of the movie, they’re best friends.
Easily the pinnacle of Ferrell and Reilly’s pairings, Step Brothers is an absurdist masterpiece that has retroactively been recognized as a satirical time capsule of Bush’s America.
Brennan: “You’re A Big Fat Curly-Headed F***!”
Arguably the funniest scene in Step Brothers is Brennan’s first night in Dale’s bedroom. The two stepbrothers bicker back and forth with outlandish threats like, “I’m gonna take a pillowcase and fill it full of bars of soap and beat the sh*t out of you!”
Dale tells Brennan, “You and your mom are hillbillies. This is a house of learned doctors.” Brennan snaps back, “You’re not a doctor. You’re a big, fat, curly-headed f***!”
Dale: “That’s So Funny, The First Time I Heard That, I Laughed So Hard I Fell Off My Dinosaur.”
When Brennan claims to be the songbird of his generation at dinner, Dale sings his own song with vulgar improvised lyrics. Brennan cracks, “I remember when I had my first beer.”
Dale cracks back, “That’s so funny, the first time I heard that, I laughed so hard I fell off my dinosaur.” Brennan is so hurt by this that he starts to cry and Robert has to calm him down.
Brennan: “You’re Embarrassing Yourself, You Geriatric F***!”
At Derek’s birthday dinner, Brennan and Dale spring an investor video on the guests for their new entertainment venture, Prestige Worldwide. They expect Robert to get his checkbook out, but he’s just horrified to see his prized boat destroyed in their music video.
Back at the house, Brennan yells at Robert: “You’re embarrassing yourself, you geriatric f***!” He tells his stepdad that if he doesn’t write him a $10,000 check, “I’m gonna shove one of those fake hearing devices so far up your ass, you can hear the sound of your small intestine as it produces sh*t!”
Dale: “We’re Here To F*** S*** Up!”
Somewhere in Step Brothers’ second act, Robert sets up job interviews for Brennan and Dale and lets them take whatever they want from his wardrobe. Cut to: Brennan and Dale sitting in an office, waiting to be interviewed, wearing tuxedos. When they’re called in for the interview, Brennan says they’ll be interviewing as a pair and Dale says, “We’re here to f*ck sh*t up!”
“Live on Stage” by Dilated Peoples comes on the soundtrack as Brennan and Dale walk to the interview in slow motion, pushing over a couple of office workers along the way.
Brennan: “Robert Better Not Get In My Face, ‘Cause I’ll Drop That Motherf*****.”
After the opening montage showing how Robert and Nancy met and got married, Step Brothers’ first full dialogue scene sees Nancy driving Brennan to his new home – and he’s not happy about it.
Between pledging to never call his mother’s new husband “Dad” and claiming to have smoked weed with Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering, Brennan says, “Robert better not get in my face, ‘cause I’ll drop that motherf*****.”
Dale: “I’m F****** Miserable. I Had To Get Up At 10 O’Clock This Morning.”
When Robert and Nancy get a divorce, Dale and Brennan finally move out of the house and get jobs. Brennan starts working with his brother Derek at his helicopter leasing company, while Dale takes a job with a catering company.
After Brennan hires that catering company for the Catalina Wine Mixer, Dale reveals how he really feels about his new occupation: “I’m f****** miserable. I had to get up at 10 o’clock this morning.”
Brennan: “In The Galaxy Of This Sucks Camel D****!”
After both Robert and Nancy are called home to deal with a savage fight going on between Brennan and Dale, they enforce a bunch of punishments on them like they’re little kids.
Brennan yells, “This house is a fucking prison!” Then, Dale adds, “On Planet Bullsh*t!” Then, Brennan adds, “In the galaxy of This Sucks Camel D****!”
Dale: “Dad, What Are You Doing? It’s Shark Week!”
Following Brennan and Dale’s fight, they both calm down and get along a little better as they sit on the couch, healing from their wounds, and watch Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.
When Robert and Nancy come in to announce their punishment, Robert turns off the TV and Dale shouts, “Dad, what are you doing? It’s Shark Week!”
Brennan: “I Have A Belly Full Of White Dog Crap In Me, And Now You Lay This S*** On Me!?”
When Brennan and Dale are walking home one day, they run afoul of some young bullies hanging out at a playground. They get ruthlessly beaten up, with kids punching them in the face and seesawing on their heads. In the climactic moment of the battle, Brennan is forced to lick a white dog poop.
Back at the house, when Nancy delivers the bad news that he and Dale will have to move out, Brennan says, “I have a belly full of white dog crap in me, and now you lay this s*** on me!?”
Dale: “Boats ‘N’ Hoes!”
In order to promote their entertainment corporation Prestige Worldwide and their new hip hop act Huff & Doback, Brennan and Duff screen a music video called “Boats ‘N’ Hoes” at Derek’s birthday party.
Later in the movie, when Brennan performs opera to save the Catalina Wine Mixer, Dale shakes up his backing drums by chiming in between verses saying, “Boats ‘n’ hoes!”