Review of Hall Pass (2011) by Nick C — 19 Mar 2012

By now, the Farrelly Brotherâ(TM)s routine should be fairly obvious. Take a couple of goofballs who donâ(TM)t exactly know what they want, feed them to the sharks and come out better from the experience. For the Brotherâ(TM)s, this cinematic formula quickly won over audiences in the 90â(TM)s, yet has faulterd through the past decade. As filmmakers focused on human interaction, the Farrellyâ(TM)s are surprisingly underrated. Several of their films are heart-warming, sweet and send a good message. The problem is that theyâ(TM)re constant toilet humor and gags have run dry. Enter: 2011â(TM)s Hall Pass.

In a year that has featured nothing but flops, disappointments and no laughs to date, Hall Pass was the first of the movies that one could turn to your friend and say âI canâ(TM)t wait to see it!â? Looking back, itâ(TM)s mediocrity should have been obvious, but this blackhole of a movie year (one thatâ(TM)s featured masterpieces such as Season of the Witch, The Roommate and Big Mommaâ(TM)s House 3) it was easy to hop on the Hall Pass bandwagon. Hall Pass featured the makings of the average raunchy comedy: the familiar face of Owen Wilson, the up-and-coming face of Jason Sudeikis, two attractive female leads (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) and a plot revolved around sex. Oh, and a random appearance from Dwight Evans.

Much like The Dilemma of a month earlier, Hall Pass gets tangled in its direction. Unlike The Dilemma, the plot and situations of Hall Pass arenâ(TM)t powerful enough to overlook the inconsistencies. Early reviews deem Hall Pass as a dud of a comedy film. Those looking for an entertaining night out with some friends fear not, Hall Pass will bring plenty of laughs, regardless of how cheap some of them might be. From the perspective of one who breaks down films, Hall Pass wonâ(TM)t be as enjoyable. While some of the back-and-forth dialogue between Wilson and Sudeikis is hilarious, most of the physical humor is recycled and simply canâ(TM)t support the film as a whole.

As it is the story of two married couples taking a week off of marriage to try and regain their spark, Hall Pass includes its share of touching moments. Sadly, the Farrelly Brothers donâ(TM)t cash in and try to overshadow the heart of the film with the antics of its characters, both leads and supporting cast. Wilson, Sudeikis, Fischer and Applegate carry the load well enough (although at times the artificiality of the story is blatant), but they receive no help from the supporting cast. Wilson and Sudeikisâ(TM) gang of friends gets written out before the movie even really has a chance to get going. The same goes for the friend of Fischer and Applegate. Had this been a film centered more on the relationship of the characters, this would be forgivable. After all, love and marriage is strong topic and the leads should be the focus. However, Hall Pass is heart set on placing their humor in the foreground and the disappearance and overall lack of screen time for the supporting cast almost runs the main characters into the ground. Richard Jenkins turns out a great performance as Wilson and Sudeikisâ(TM) party-crazy friend, but his time on screen is limited to the point of his character being pointless. Ultimately, the writing of the characters is to blame.

Bottomline, Hall Pass is a fun experience. Not every second of the film is laugh-out-loud humorous, but itâ(TM)s a entertaining way to spend an hour and a half. From an aspect focused on cinematic quality, Hall Pass canâ(TM)t find a proper balance between heart and humor and the Farrelly Brothers fall back on redundant jokes and overused toilet humor to push some of the scenes forward.