The Brothers Solomon Review

Messages: The majority of the movie's jokes are premised on the brothers' social incompetence, which involves farting, misspeaking (particularly blithe, unintentional insults -- like calling a woman fat without any malice), misunderstanding (an African-American character thinks they're racist; cops think they're soliciting children), fighting, and crying. Ignorance (manifested as mean jokes and snide remarks) and the plot about a surrogate mother lead to arguments, threats, and general discomfort (it's framed as comedy, but the results are often strained). The brothers' surrogate makes some good points about the responsibilities of parenthood.

Violence: Cars screech and collide (mildly). Woman is hit abruptly by bus (nothing graphic shown). John hits Dean's nose with a dart (no blood, but wincing). James repeatedly threatens the brothers with violence, but he doesn't take action. The brothers design a crib that can withstand rocks, glass, and other objects being hurled at it (which they demonstrate with loud glee); they also experiment with tossing and catching a doll meant to represent a real infant.

Sex: In a dream, John licks (with visible tongue) water left when a bikini-clad Tara leaves a hot tub. An extended joke about pedophilia has the brothers sitting in a car near a park, trying to solicit a little girl to get ice cream (their intentions are harmless). Phrases include references to "anal," "nuts," "vagina," "baby hole," "put a baby inside you," "hard-on," "tits," "dick," "multi-orgasmic." But for all of their talk, the guys don't really get any action. A visit to a sperm bank includes talk of semen and discussion and brief views of porn magazines (with titles that include words like "jugs" and "jizz"). Some homoerotic/homophobic humor (Dean kisses a date's father on the lips; when the brothers make up after a fight, John is naked -- though only his chest is seen -- during their hug, causing Dean to ask him to put on a towel).

Language: Frequent profanity, including lots of uses of "f--k" and "motherf--ker," plus "s--t," "ass," "a--hole," "hell," "damn," "bitch," "crap," "sucks," and "c--ksucker."

Consumerism: Visual and verbal mentions of many products and companies, including Meetspot, Craigslist, Little Debbie, Barnes & Noble, Laverne & Shirley, Energizer Bunny, North Face, and Snickers. Also specific references to other movies (Ulee's Gold, Stuart Little).

Drinking, drugs and smoking: John invites Tara out for drinks, then sets up a dinner with champagne in the hallway outside her apartment (when she rejects him, he drinks ostentatiously); Dean drinks liquor in despair. Brief cigarette smoking.