Why would anyone make a movie from this plot? Simply to let the two stars strut their stuff. Ferrell gives Brennan the default expression of a sensitive, needy canine who sees whatever space Nancy occupies as his own movable turf. He turns each hurt glance and clumsy gesture into a tour-de-force; even Brennan's aborted effort to shake Robert's hand becomes a hard-to-resist comic contortion. Reilly imbues Dale with the bristling pugnacity of a boy who'd be a bully if only he were big enough and strong enough. After he and Brennan bond, he's just as funny when he overflows with teddy-bearish warmth.
It suits their clashing personalities that Ferrell's Brennan is a singer who can't sing in public and Reilly's Dale is a drummer without a band. You can't wait for their secret talents to pay off.
You wait a good long while, though the movie does reward your patience. Steenburgen, still a charmer, proves winsome and delicate as an "enabler" trying to understand the inexplicable immaturity of her son. Jenkins is a riot as a sexually reawakened dad, whether Robert is putting the rush on Nancy or developing a man-crush for dashing Derek, who runs a helicopter-leasing company.
