Tagline: They want put a baby in you.
“The Brothers Solomon” tells the hilarious story of Dean and John Solomon (Forte and Arnett), two good-hearted but romantically-challenged brothers. When they find out their dying father’s last wish is for a grandchild, the brothers set out to find someone to have a baby with. But after spending their formative years being home schooled by their father in a remote arctic location, their social skills prove to be somewhat lacking and their attempts at fatherhood go hysterically and disastrously wrong.
The Brothers Solomon follows the hapless quest of brothers John (Will Arnett) and Dean Solomon (Will Forte) to find a woman — any woman — willing to bear their child and fulfill the wish of their dying father (Lee Majors).
After a few dating disasters, it looks as if the brothers may beat the odds and find what they’re looking for when Dean meets a woman eager to have his baby. Unfortunately, she is flattened by a passing bus right before his eyes. Undeterred, the single-minded brothers change tactics, ditching conventional dating to try their luck with, in short succession, a street hooker, an adoption agency and finally, the Craigslist website.
Their online ad quickly attracts a response from Janine (Kristen Wiig), who agrees to be a surrogate mother for their child — for a hefty fee. Janine’s pining ex, James (Chi McBride), is none too thrilled about her decision, but a trip to the fertility clinic ensues and before long Janine is with child.
As the pregnancy progresses and the brothers embark on an ill-advised self-study course in parenting, Janine finally begins to warm to the brothers’ earnest enthusiasm. Even James, with whom she is now reunited, can’t help but laugh at their antics. Perhaps they will make decent dads after all.
But as the birth date looms, Janine gets cold feet and vanishes. For the first time, the brothers’ tireless optimism flags and it occurs to them that — despite the double Ph.D.s they each earned during their home schooling days in the North Pole — they might be losers after all. But rather than give up, the tenacious siblings decide to do everything within their power to find Janine and fulfill their father’s wish.
About the Story
The concept for The Brothers Solomon was born nearly a decade ago when Will Forte was just starting to get noticed for the comedic writing talent that would later earn him an Emmy nomination. That’s also when Forte began a 10-year working relationship with executive producer Tom Werner, co-founder of the Carsey-Werner Company.
In 1996, Forte joined the creative writing team for the critically acclaimed series “3rd Rock From the Sun” and then quickly segued into a writing slot on “That ’70s Show” — both of which were executive produced by Carsey-Werner. While writing for “That ’70s Show,” Forte joined L.A.’s improv comedy troupe The Groundlings and was soon discovered by “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, who asked him to join the cast of that show. Carsey-Werner agreed to let him go, but not without him leaving behind the script which would evolve into The Brothers Solomon.
“We had a deal for Will to write a feature based on characters he created for a pilot that was never made,” recalls producer Matt Berenson, who ran Carsey-Werner Films at the time. “They were fresh, funny characters. We just needed to work with Will to hatch a movie idea that we could plug them into.”
The pilot, entitled “Dos Hermanos,” was the script that first landed Forte the job at Carsey-Werner, recalls the writer-actor. “It was about the adventures of two brothers named John and Dean Solomon who were very similar to the brothers in this movie. There was nothing Spanish about them; ‘Dos Hermanos’ just sounded more exotic than ‘Two Brothers.’ Carsey-Werner asked me to develop it into a feature-length script, which I agreed to do.”
The producers thought director Bob Odenkirk (Let’s Go to Prison, “Mr. Show”) would be a natural fit to helm the production because, like Forte and Will Arnett, he had done both stand-up and sketch comedy himself. Odenkirk’s vision for the material clinched the deal.
“The script has an absurdist side to it as well as a very dry side,” says Odenkirk. “Will Forte is a very funny writer on the order of Steve Martin. I liked the sweet nature of it and I had these ideas about defining the characters more by their positive, upbeat natures than by their stupidity. The producers liked my take on it and I immediately signed on.”
Forte and Arnett were both thrilled to learn Odenkirk had agreed to direct The Brothers Solmon. “Bob Odenkirk has been at the focal point of the comedy world for a long time and I am a huge fan,” says Forte. “I had a hard time talking to him at first because I had so much respect for him that it made me nervous to even be around him.”
Arnett adds, “Bob is an incredibly collaborative director, probably from years of working as a writer on SNL and a writer and actor on ‘Mr. Show,’ and he understands what it takes to make a scene. I was really happy he signed on.”
The close bond between the brothers Solomon is the heart and soul of the movie. And it’s the quirkiness of the relationship and the ways the brothers express their affection for each other that are the source of much of the movie’s hilarity.
“The brothers are a little odd and could almost be taken as creepy if you saw them out of context,” Forte says. “But there’s always a method to their madness, and because of their innocence, these are guys you want to give a second chance to over and over and over again. There is a real earnestness to everything they do; they have an unbridled optimism and they approach everything with that outlook.”
Producer Matt Berenson agrees. “The brothers are really defined by their positivity and their enthusiasm as much as they are by their cluelessness,” he says. “It’s the combination of those things that makes them who they are. They always think things are going well, even when they’re not, and there’s something sweet about that which makes you root for them and care about them. In the end, you fall in love with them because of their innocence.”
The brothers inherited their optimism from their dad, according to Forte. “Their father was an extremely positive person,” he says. “He lived his life for his sons because their mom died when they were very young. He told them very early on that he wanted them to have everything they wanted in life, and then he went about getting that for them — even when it meant moving with them to the Arctic because they wanted to live where Santa Claus lives.”
That’s one reason the brothers had a very non-traditional education, explains Forte. “Their father wanted to make sure they were the best and the brightest, so they were homeschooled through their doctorates. They both have double Ph.D.s in glacial core sampling and plate tectonics.”
“When I read the script I remember thinking the brothers were social retards,” says director Bob Odenkirk. “They were raised in a science lab at the North Pole, and they’ve only recently been introduced to the world and society so they’re just not very good at interacting with other people. They do things completely wrong. For example, they take girls out on first dates and ask right away if they can impregnate them — and interestingly enough one girl agrees to it! Their father taught them to never quit, to never give up. You can’t help but see them as idiots, but their genuineness of spirit elevates them.”
Production notes provided by Sony ScreenGems.
The Brothers Solomon
Starring: Will Arnett, Will Forte, Chi McBride, Malin Akerman, Kristin Wiig
Directed by: Bob Odenkirk
Screenplay by: Bob Odenkirk
Release Date: September 7, 2007
MPAA Rating: R for language and sexual content.
Studio: Sony ScreenGems
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $900,926 (87.0%)
Foreign: $134,130 (13.0%)
Total: $1,035,056 (Worldwide)