Have you ever read the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut? Trust me, it’s relevant to the cinematic sewage that is “The Stepfather.” In “Harrison Bergeron,” the government brings everyone to the lowest common denominator of equality by handicapping anyone who is prettier, smarter or stronger than anyone else. To handicap the smart people, they put speakers in your ears that routinely blast loud sounds to break your concentration.
If you’re a smart person equipped with this concentration-breaking gadgets from “Harrison Bergeron,” you might think this movie is okay. However, if you can think past the thirty second mark, the house of cards that is the script dissolves faster than cotton candy in the rain.
It’s not that the basic idea has problems. The original 1987 film is a cult classic, after all. And it’s even based (rather loosely, of course) on a real-life serial killer who jumped from family to family. The problem with the 2009 version of “The Stepfather” exists entirely in its execution.
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