Step Brothers

- Opens today at theaters everywhere; rated R for crude and sexual content, and pervasive language; 108 minutes.

As they did in "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights," Will Ferrell and his writing partner Adam McKay (who directed) arrive on the set with a premise, a few lines of dialogue and a goal to wing it. This time, with Ferrell and John C. Reilly as adult slackers whose parents (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins) get married, the loosey-goosey vibe produces some off-the-wall humor - particularly when Ferrell's Brandon and Reilly's Dale go from hating each other to becoming best friends and back - but more than a few dead spots. Despite a few hilarious supporting players (especially Kathryn Hahn as the miserable wife of Brandon's overachieving brother), "Step Brothers" runs out of steam well before the closing credits.

The Wackness

- Opens today at the Broadway Centre Cinemas; rated R for pervasive drug use, language and some sexuality; 95 minutes.

In the hot New York summer in 1994, a pot-dealing slacker named Luke (played by former Nickelodeon star Josh Peck) is depressed about having to leave for college. His solution: Getting therapy sessions from Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley) in exchange for marijuana, while also making time with the doctor's luscious step-daughter Stephanie (played by 'Juno' co-star Olivia Thirlby). Writer-director Jonathan Levine nervously juggles cliches, between Luke's coming-of-age tale and Squires' disintegrating midlife drama, while lavishing far too much love on nostalgia for the mid-'90s (with references to Rudy Giuliani and hip hop, among other touchstones). Despite interesting performances by Kingsley, Thirlby and Mary-Kate Olsen as a flower child, Peck's blandly apathetic air becomes contagious.

movies@sltrib.com