Rated R for crude and sexual humor throughout, language, some graphic nudity and drug use
Cast: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Nicky Whelan
Directors: Peter and Bobby Farrelly
One of the most effective traits of the Farrelly brothers' style of humor is their belief that comedies don't always need a "straight man." Everybody's a nut.
That economic approach to laugh-gathering has served the duo well, affording them the ability to pack their movies with as many jokes as their plots can hold. "Hall Pass
In a comic arena devoid of true "straight men", the closest thing to one is Rick (Owen Wilson). He has a good job, a nice home, two great kids, a loving wife named Maggie (Jenna Fischer) whose patience with her increasingly neglectful husband is wearing thin. ("You almost ready to head out?" he asks. "It'll be a couple hours,” is her reply. “Less if you help with the kids." "Two hours is fine" he jokes.) Adding to her stress is Rick's insatiable need to gawk at any remotely attractive woman who saunters into his libidinous crosshairs. ("Going driving with you is like riding with a horny bobblehead!")
Rick's best friend is Fred (Jason Sudeikis), who is married to Grace (Christina Applegate). Fred shares in Rick's visual "appreciation" or sorts toward the opposite sex, though is far less subtle. (When unable to get any action, he retires to the family mini-van for an all-too-necessary masturbation session to Styx 's "The Best of Times".) With both wives fed up with their spouses' antics, they eventually take the advice of a self-help guru (Joy Behar) who advises them to offer the boys a "hall pass". A week off from marriage, where they're free to engage in whatever affairs a female would have the unbridled kindness to offer them.
We follow the guys on their seven day odyssey, complete with that "Law & Order" sound effect as we enter each new day. Their journey toward sexual freedom begins on rough terrain, as the boys and their "entourage" of middle-aged-out-of-the-singles-game-too-long best friends debate the best places to meet hot chicks... Applebee's, Olive Garden, or Chili's.
With no luck there, Rick and Fred hit the club scene, employing pickup lines Fred most likely spent way too much time working on. ("You must be from Ireland , 'cause when I look at you, my penis is Dublin
And that's sort of the drawback here. It's a nice message, but way too obvious from the get go. As a result, my interest waned pretty early on. I did laugh a few times. The Farrelly's have delivered what they've been specializing in for years now... toilet humor, nudity, crass yet funny dialogue. I wasn't proud of everything that rattled the funny bone, but here's a litmus test for you... if you gauge your dignity by what you choose to NOT laugh at, then you officially have no sense of humor.
Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis skillfully straddle the line between being crass and likable. They’re well cast here, playing a couple clueless goofballs trying way too hard to achieve a level of social comfort that can only be acquired through not trying at all. The humor is mostly there, but the story from Pete Jones (he of the Project Greenlight season one - "Stolen Summer" fame) doesn't quite have enough to hold our interest. One of my main criticisms of action pics is that their plots are too often little more than clotheslines upon which action sequences are hung. In a way, "Hall Pass
It's a close call, which is a tribute to the comic offerings of Peter and Bobby Farrelly. The jokes are in place, but are leaned on too heavily by a paper-thin premise that can barely sustain even the most meager running time. I admired their comic tenacity but by the final act, the Farrelly's have exhausted their tank, and are running on fumes.
* * 1/2 out of * * * * stars
