Hall Pass

Review by Bob Ignizio

Bobby and Peter Farrelly made two of the funniest and most successful comedies of the nineties back to back – KINGPIN (1996) and THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998). Since then, however, the brothers haven't quite lived up to their promise. For the most part they've just coasted, turning out films that were amiable enough for the most part, but hardly the sort of movies anyone is going to watch over and over again. And the less said about their last film, 2007's absolutely wretched remake THE HEARTBREAK KID, the better. So it was with mixed emotions that I approached HALL PASS.

The premise for the Farrelly's latest sounds like something from the Todd Phillips or Judd Aptow playbook: a couple of likable middle-aged schlubs (Jason Sudeikis and Owen Wilson) irritate their wives (Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate) by constantly looking at other women to the point that the two give their husbands a “hall pass”. What this means is that the guys are given a week off from marriage to do whatever they want and get it out of their system. The same holds true for the women, who have considerably better luck at snaring potential love connections. The guys mostly just embarrass themselves, although eventually everyone has the opportunity to cheat. But will they, and if they do, what does it mean for their relationships? In short, is this free pass really free?

The aforementioned likes of Aptow and Phillips, not to mention the JACKASS guys and many more, have made the Farrelly's brand of gross-out humor seem almost quaint by comparison. The one thing they still have going for them is a knack for creating characters the audience really cares about. Underneath the poop and dick jokes, the Farrelly's movie's always have heart, and that's still the case here. More importantly, this being a comedy and all, the Farrellys seem to have remembered how to be funny again. Really funny. But it's a more believable kind of funny, like the sincere romantic comedy of their best post-MARY film (at least until now) FEVER PITCH mixed with the “anything for a laugh” sensibility of their early films.

Despite the laughs and the good will we feel towards the characters, HALL PASS does start to run out of steam near the end. The first 4 days of freedom for the boys are definitely the funniest, and when they incur the wrath of a psychotic barrista (Derek Waters) near the end of their week of unwedded bliss, it feels forced and out of place with the rest of the film. Eventually, though, the Farrellys recover in time to bring the proceedings to a satisfying conclusion, along the way pulling off the difficult trick of making a film that should appeal to fans of modern rude and raunchy humor as well as those who enjoy lighthearted romantic comedies. 3 out of 4 stars.