As if there weren’t enough of them in the marketplace, the Farrelly brothers offer up Hall Pass, the latest sight gag feature made up of penis jokes, poop gags and “Oops, I didn’t know you were listening” moments. Oddly enough, for about 45 minutes it’s not too bad. Then, of course, it goes from being a raunchy comedy about nothing into a comedic melodrama forgetting it never established its characters.
When it comes to the sibling, writer-director duo Peter and Bobby Farrelly, if it isn’t their extraordinary debut feature Dumb and Dumber I’m not particularly interested. I’ve skipped their last two outings (The Heartbreak Kid and Fever Pitch) and was never a fan of their most talked about hit, There’s Something about Mary. Yet, I’m always up for an attempt at a laugh, even if studio comedies so frequently disappoint.
In Hall Pass Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis play everymen Rick and Fred, a couple of married buddies, both of whom have reached a sexual crossroads in their marriages. Recognizing this, their wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate), on the advice of Joy Behar playing a relationship guru — but you can’t help but think of her as Joy Behar — decide to give their husbands a “hall pass”. This means they get a week off from marriage to do whatever and whomever they want. The idea is they will realize what they’ve got is exactly what they want and the lives they think they want are no longer within reach. Got it?
Now maybe people actually do this kind of thing. I don’t, but I also don’t have a problem with this premise or think it’s all that farfetched. The Farrellys also do a pretty good job of nailing down marital and relationship hang ups. Men and women should be able to identify with some of what’s going on in the relationships here even if the characters are essentially cardboard cutouts of real people. It’s this second fact that causes the film to die a slow death.
Over the course of the first hour or so phrases such as “large mouthed vagina” and “fake chow” are introduced to the landscape, either to be seconded immediately or referenced later in the film. The new go-to gag of putting a penis on screen for laughs is utilized to the fullest and an explosive fart joke had me wondering how long it took them to decide on what fart noise to use for the scene rather than laughing too hard… though I can’t lie, I did laugh.
The supporting cast is more miss than hit with Ricky Gervais’s original “The Office” partner in crime, Stephen Merchant, serving as the only supporting bright spot. By comparison, an appearance by Richard Jenkins as the sex-fueled Coakley reminded me of the moment Wedding Crashers hit a wall when Will Ferrell made his appearance. The difference being Wedding Crashers fought through to the end whereas this one just fizzles.
Derek Waters takes up space during the film’s latter half as a jealous deejay, pining for Aussie actress Nicky Whelan (best known for BBC’s “Neighbours”) as Leigh, the sought after coffee house sex pot. Alyssa Milano even shows up for about two minutes, which is just long enough to have her fake breasts turned into a punch line.
The use of the “Law and Order” signature dun-dun playing during the title cards between days gave me a laugh and as a bit of a “Where’s Waldo?” search, be on the lookout for actor Tyler Hoechlin. Hoechlin played Tom Hanks’s son in Road to Perdition and let me just say he looks a little different now, as the ladies in the audience will surely notice.
Otherwise, you end up stuck with a lame duck premise and no one to cheer for. As much as the predicament the couples face seems based on reality, the husband and wife chemistry is non existent. They’re forgettable to the point I had to look up their names in order to write this review and I still can’t tell you the name of Applegate’s character.
Hall Pass isn’t a film that’s new or inventive. It’s the same-old, same-old as it simply hopes to add a few new one-liners for high school and college kids to use around school. This isn’t the sign of a bad film, but it is a sign of a film you’ve seen before. It simply depends on where you want to spend that money that’s burning a hole in your wallet, on a film you’ll likely forget 30 minutes after seeing it or on something more worthwhile?
