Considering the scathing reviews that greeted The Brothers Solomon upon its theatrical release, you'd think the filmmakers had been guilty of beating children and small dogs. I am happy to report that the movie I saw was guilty of nothing worse than mediocrity. Directed by Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk and penned by Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte, The Brothers Solomon isn't a great comedy, by any stretch, but it packs enough laughs to justify its existence. It's not the highest praise imaginable, I grant you, but there are plenty of more offensive flicks out there.

Forte and Will Arnett (of Arrested Development fame) play Dean and John Solomon, two extremely upbeat idiot brothers who were homeschooled in the Arctic by their widower father. Left with a glaring lack of social skills, the well-meaning guys appear incapable of meeting women without creeping the bejesus out of them.

Their ineptness at dating becomes particularly nettlesome when dear old dad (Lee Majors -- yes, that Lee Majors) lapses into a coma. The brothers find out that their father's only regret is that he doesn't have a grandchild. Hoping that good news will speed his recovery, John and Dean resolve to procreate as soon as possible. John is confident that the new motivator will ensure success. "Before, we were trying to enter women for ourselves," he tells Dean.

When attempts at meeting women go nowhere -- John proposes to one woman (a cameo by The Office's Jenna Fischer) on their first date -- the brothers place an advertisement for a woman willing to carry a child to term. The eventual respondent, Janine (Kristen Wiig), is broke and in need of money. At first, John and Dean are under the impression that one of them will impregnate her the old-fashioned way, until Janine stresses that the only thing they'll be in is "a cold Dixie Cup." The brothers are befuddled. "Well," Dean says quizzically, "that certainly doesn't make your vagina sound very appealing."

If that line strikes you as dumb and unfunny, this isn't the flick for you. This is idiot humor along the lines of The Jerk-era Steve Martin and the Farrelly brothers' Dumb and Dumber. Taken at that level, The Brothers Solomon boasts some legitimately hilarious bits, particularly when the hapless duo visits an adoption agency and practices diaper-changing. But Forte's script is wildly uneven, and it gets no favors from Odenkirk's stagnant pacing and leaden comic timing. Some gags, such as periodic use of the St. Elmo's Fire theme, grow particularly tiresome.

But the movie is too genial and harmless to dismiss entirely. Forte is likable enough and Arnett wrings a few guffaws for his brand of creepy cheerfulness. Chi McBride (TV's Pushing Daisies) has some nice moments as Janine's rageaholic boyfriend. The inexplicable waste, however, is Wiig. One of the funniest cast members of Saturday Night Live, she is totally misused in the thankless role of Janine.

Presented in anamorphic widescreen 185:1, The Brothers Solomon is a perfectly serviceable print transfer. The movie doesn't have a visual style to speak of, so there isn't much to screw up. The picture is a bit soft in spots, but presumably that is from the source material.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 doesn't get any sort of a workout, but the sound is clear and sharp, and there are no issues with distortion or drop-out. Audio tracks are available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Thai.

Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Portuguese.

Forte and Arnett provide a fun, engaging and occasionally candid commentary. The two have a pleasant rapport, although Arnett tries a bit too hard to be irreverent.

The Making of The Brothers Solomon is a standard-issue promotional piece that clocks in just shy of 17 minutes. It includes on-set interviews with the cast and crew.

Nine deleted scenes have an aggregate running time of 15 minutes, 49 seconds. You won't discover any great comic gems that were left on the cutting-room floor. The Fine Art of Creating a Specimen (2:44) is an on-location clip of Forte, Arnett and Wiig musing about masturbation. The extra is actually kinda funny and doesn't outwear its welcome.

Finally, the disc includes previews of Seinfeld - Season 9, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superbad, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Across the Universe, Untraceable, I Know Who Killed Me, 30 Days of Night, Meatballs, Vantage Point, Feel the Noise and We Own the Night.

There are some big laughs to be found in The Brothers Solomon. But screenwriter Will Forte, clever as he often is, cannot seem to separate the wheat from the chaff -- and there is plenty of chaff.